Red Eyes
by Thought Ruler Archfiend
Summary: Lance Drake, an aspiring Duelist, has just been accepted into Duel Academy! He's expecting a fun, if challenging, three years of learning all he can about the game of Duel Monsters before going pro. Too bad an old man with age issues and his Seven Shadow Riders are hell-bent on making it as unpleasant as they can for everyone involved. Basically just an OC Self-Insert.
1. Entrance Exam

Hello. This is my first fanfiction. It's basically a sort of self-insert even though I'm not too much like Lance, so maybe it's just more of an OC centric fic. I decided to write this because I was bored and I love those new Red-Eyes cards that came out, especially Red-Eyes Fusion and Black Dragon Archfiend, so I thought I'd give this whole writing thing a shot.

That said, he won't only use Red-Eyes monsters. There'll be other dragons and the rare non-dragon, especially in Season Two, when Synchros will be introduced. Personally, I like Xyz more, but Synchros are nice, too.

I don't really expect this story to be all that popular (or good), but I hope there are at least a few people out there that will enjoy this.

Also, don't expect romance. I just don't think I'd be any good at it.

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, or anything to do with the franchise at all.**

That said, let's begin.

* * *

In a small house on the outskirts of Domino City, an alarm clock blared to signal the start of a new day. A boy, about the age of fifteen, sat up and reached over to the annoying machine, turning the alarm off. This boy's name was Lance Drake.

He stood up, stretching his arms above his head as he walked towards the bathroom. As he turned on the shower, it hit him.

Today was the day.

Soon, he would be accepted into the prestigious Duel Academy. All he would have to do was pass the entrance exams. He had already taken the written exam the week before, getting a 92%, so now all he'd have to do was pass the practical, which would be held in just a few hours.

"Lance, are you awake?" he heard his mother call from downstairs.

"Yeah, mom!" he called back, pulling on a black, long-sleeved shirt. "I just got out of the shower. I'll be down in a few!"

"Just checking. You don't want to be late for your exam, do you?" she replied in a slightly teasing tone.

"'Course not!"

After brushing his teeth, he ran down the stairs to the kitchen, where his mother was setting out breakfast. He took a seat next to his twelve-year old brother, ruffling his hair, which was a bright, vibrant red, unlike his own, which had a more pink-ish tinge.

"Oh, I like that shirt, honey. I brings out the green in your eyes." his mother complimented, smiling softly at him.

"Thanks, mom..." he replied awkwardly, embarrassed at her comment.

"But did you have to use so much gel for your hair? It looks silly." she continued, still with that soft smile on her face.

He rolled his eyes, "I've told you a million times, mom, I like it like this." he said in exasperation. They had this conversation before, and no matter how many times he told her that he liked his hair spiked up the way it was, she always had to comment on it anyway.

"I-I think it l-looks f-fine." his brother commented quietly.

"Aw, thanks Mason!" Lance replied, ruffling his brother's hair again. His brother gave a small smile, but looked a bit sad for some reason. "Hey, what's wrong, buddy?" His mother rolled her eyes at him, as if that was a stupid question. His brother slumped a little.

"I-It's n-nothing." Mason said weakly. Lance just gave him a look, causing the younger boy to slump even more, "I-It's just... y-you'll be g-gone s-soon! I-I-I won't s-see you f-for a-almost a y-year!" he exclaimed quietly.

Lance blinked, surprised as he shoveled some scrambled eggs into his mouth. "Oh...Well, that's not totally true!" he said, trying to cheer his brother up. "We can still talk on the phone, and I can write letters. It's not like they cut off all outside communication on that island. And maybe I won't even make it in! I might not pass the practical."

Mason rolled his eyes uncharacteristically, "You'll p-pass, Lance. Y-You're the b-best Duelist I-I've e-ever s-seen." he replied.

"He's right. You haven't lost a duel in over a year." his mother added, pride clear in her voice.

Lance blushed a bit in embarrassment. It was true. No one in the neighborhood or at school had been able to defeat him since last year. He was always able to overwhelm them with his dragon deck. His hand reached up, grabbing the pendant around his neck as he looked at it. It was a small black dragon head with menacing red eyes, causing him to smile as he heard a faint roar in his head.

He looked back to his brother, who still seemed to be a bit upset. A thought occurred to him, "You know, Mason, if you're good enough, Duel Academy accepts students younger than fifteen."

His brother whipped his head around to stare at him as his mother frowned, "R-Really?"

He nodded enthusiastically, "Yep! If you pass the written exam with over a 95%, and defeat your opponent in the practical, you can be accepted. So, you could go to Duel Academy with me next year!"

Mason smiled happily before he suddenly deflated, "B-But I don't t-think I-I'm good e-enough for t-that..."

Lance frowned, "Hey, none of that. Need I remind you who it was that won that National Junior Tournament and received a set of one-of-a-kind cards from Maximillion Pegasus himself?" he said wryly, causing his brother to smile bashfully.

"I-I did." he said quietly.

"That's what I thought. If anyone can make it in early, it's you." he said, smiling. Then, he frowned, "Speaking of, has dad decided where Lilith will go?"

His mother scowled, "Yes, that bastar-uh..." she began sharply before cutting herself off with a small cough, as if just realizing Mason was still there, "I mean, your _wonderful _father has decided to enroll your sister in South Academy."

Lance frowned, "Huh. Too bad, I was hoping to see her in Duel Academy..."

His mother stood up, "Well, you'd better grab your deck so we can get going, honey."

Lance raised an eyebrow, looking over to the clock which showed he still had an hour to kill before his duel was scheduled, but seeing the look on his mother's face, he decided not to question it.

* * *

Parents weren't allowed into the testing center, so with a final 'Good Luck!' from his mother, he signed in and entered the large building.

He whistled, impressed at the large number of aspiring duelists. He looked to the several duels taking place, getting an idea of the level the instructors were dueling on. They didn't seem to be using too much skill, but they definitely weren't going easy on the applicants, either.

Deciding not to stand around, he took a seat next to black-haired boy in a blue uniform, obviously revealing his rank as an Obelisk Blue.

"Yo! I'm Lance." he introduced himself, holding out his hand.

The other boy looked at him for a moment before grasping his hand, "Noah."

"Nice to meet you! Have you already dueled?" he asked the other boy.

Noah shook his head, "Not yet. Should be soon."

Lance began to nod before he froze, "If you haven't dueled yet, why are you already wearing the Obelisk uniform?"

Noah turned his blue eyes to Lance. "I graduated from a prep school. I've already been accepted into Duel Academy's Obelisk Blue. My duel is just a formality." he explained succinctly.

Lance nodded in understanding. He supposed it made sense. Going through three years of school just for Duel Academy would naturally allow its students automatic passes into the prestigious school and its highest-ranked dorm.

On the other hand, it seemed like a waste of time and money to go through _three years _of Duel School just to be able to get an automatic pass to the highest dorm, which could be easily achieved through hard work and talent. Lance didn't want to come off as arrogant, but by next year, he'd probably be in Obelisk Blue himself. To him, it just seemed like these prep students were making getting into Obelisk more time-consuming than it had to be.

Eh, maybe it looked good when a Duelist went pro.

Lance was shaken out of his thoughts when a voice came over the P.A. System, "Lance Drake to field four. Lance Drake to field four."

He jumped up excitedly, "That's me!"

"Good luck." Noah said stoically.

"Don't need luck when I got skill, but thanks anyway." he called as he walked towards field four.

* * *

As the small platform he was standing on was rising up to field four, he strapped on his duel disk, which was custom made so he could wear it on his right arm instead of his left since he was left handed. As the platform reached the top, he saw the proctor already there, ready and waiting.

"Lance Drake?" the man questioned, causing him to nod. "If you win this duel, you will be a lock for the Academy. Fail, and you will have to try again next year, unless your written score was over 90%. If that is the case, you will be put in the Slifer Dorm on probation. Understand?"

Lance nodded, "So, I guess I'll be in Ra then?" he said cockily.

"We'll see." the proctor replied stoically.

"Now..."

"Let's..."

"DUEL!"

**Lance: 8000  
****Proctor: 8000**

**Turn 1 – Proctor**

"I'll go first." the proctor said, drawing a card. "First, I'll activate the spell card Meteor of Destruction! I can activate this card when my opponent's life points are higher than 3000. Now, you take 1000 points of damage!" the man exclaimed, placing the card in the Spell/Trap zones.

The hologram of the card appeared, followed by a large sphere of fire launching at Lance, exploding as it made contact, taking a chunk of his Life Points with it.

**Lance: 7000  
****Proctor: 8000**

"Next, I'll summon Great Angus in attack mode!" the proctor called. A large, red beast appeared on the proctor's side on the field as he placed the card on his duel disk, roaring in anger.

**Great Angus – Fire/Beast/Normal/LV4 – 1800 ATK/600 DEF**

"Now, I'll activate the Field Spell, Molten Destruction!"

The plain dueling field they were standing on changed, becoming a rocky, mountainous area while a massive volcano sprouted up behind the proctor, spewing a copious amounts of lava all around them.

"Because of this card, all fire attribute monsters on the field gain 500 attack points and lose 400 defense points!"

**Great Angus – 1800 ATK - 2300 ATK/600 DEF - 200 DEF**

"Finally, I'll place two cards face down and end my turn." the man finished, causing Lance to smile.

"About time! Now, it's my move! Draw!" Lance cried, taking a card from the top of his deck.

**Turn 2 – Lance**

Lance looked at his hand, contemplating, "First, I'll activate the spell card Dragon Shrine! This card lets me send one Dragon type monster from my deck to the graveyard, and if the card I sent was a Normal Monster, which it was, I can send one more!"

"Next, from my hand, I'll activate the spell card Silver's Cry! Now, I can special summon one normal Dragon-type monster from my graveyard, and I pick Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon!" he shouted, placing one of his favorite cards in the monster zone.

A large, black dragon with leathery, dark red wings and glowing red eyes appeared on the field, roaring with power.

**Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon – Dark/Dragon/Gemini/Effect/LV7 – 2400 ATK/2000 DEF**

"That's not all!" he continued.

"Oh?" the proctor prompted.

Lance nodded, grinning, "Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon isn't any normal monster! It's a Gemini monster. And since I haven't normal summoned this turn, I can Gemini summon it! Now, Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon, show your true power!" Lance's monster roared in triumph, its wings bursting into intense flames.

"Impressive." the proctor admitted. "But your monster's attack points have not changed at all."

Lance smirked, "True, but his points are still higher than your Great Angus'! Now, Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon! Attack his Great Angus! Inferno Fire Blast!"

The powerful black dragon roared, gathering a large sphere of fire in its maw before firing, annihilating Great Angus in an explosion of flames as the proctor braced himself.

**Lance: 7000  
****Proctor: 7900**

The proctor thrust his arm out, "I activate my traps, both of which are known as Backfire! Now, whenever a fire attribute monster I control is destroyed, you take 500 points of damage!" he explained.

Lance's eyes widened, "What?" he yelped, bracing himself as two separate explosions happened around him.

**Lance: 6000  
****Proctor: 7900**

Lance recovered quickly, "Didn't expect that, but don't think I'll be the only one taking burn damage this turn!"

"Excuse me?"

Lance smirked, "That's Black Flare's effect! Whenever he attacks or is attacked, my opponent takes 2400 points of damage! Now, Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon! Once more! Inferno Fire Blast!" he ordered.

Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon opened its mouth again, firing yet another fiery blast at his master's opponent. The proctor flinched, holding his duel disk up to instinctively stave off the attack, to no avail.

**Lance: 6000  
****Proctor: 5500**

"Finally, I'll place two cards face down, and end my turn." Lance smiled, placing two cards in his Spell/Trap Card zones.

"Not bad, applicant." the proctor complimented with a smile. "But don't think you've won just yet! My turn, draw!"

**Turn 3 – Proctor**

"First, I'll activate the spell card Premature Burial! By paying 800 Life Points, I can revive one monster from my graveyard, and since I only have one monster in my graveyard, of course I'll pick Great Angus!"

**Lance: 6000  
****Proctor: 4700**

The proctor's ferocious beast returned to the field, roaring in anger at its destroyer.

**Great Angus – Fire/Beast/Normal/LV4 – 1800 ATK - 2300 ATK/600 DEF - 200**

"Now, I'll activate the spell card Creature Swap! Now, we each choose one monster and switch them with each other!" he explained. "Since we each only have one monster on the field, I think you can see where this is going."

Lance grimaced, easily understanding what was about to happen.

"Now, Great Angus! Switch with Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon!" the proctor commanded.

Black Flare roared in anger as it was forced to the proctor's field. If the proctor didn't know better, he would think Black Flare was actually _glaring _at him. But that was ridiculous. It was only a hologram.

Right?

The man shook the thoughts out of his head, returning his focus to his opponent, who looked rather miffed about his monster being stolen from him. The proctor smirked, "Now, Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon, destroy Great Angus! Inferno Fire Blast!"

Black Flare launched its signature attack at Great Angus once again, sending it back to the graveyard as it cried in betrayal.

**Lance: 5900  
****Proctor: 4700**

Lance frowned, knowing what was coming next.

"I see by the look on your face, you know what's coming." the proctor said.

"Of course I do! It's my monster, after all." Lance growled.

The man smirked, "Well then, get ready! Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon! Go! Inferno Fire Blast!"

Lance held up his right arm, blocking the holographic attack with his duel disk. This didn't stop him from taking the burn damage.

**Lance: 3500  
****Proctor: 4700**

"And with that, I'll end my turn." the proctor said, smiling at him somewhat regretfully. "Well, it was an impressive showing, applicant, but it appears you will have to wait until next year to enter Duel Academy."

Lance looked down and took a deep breath. Then, he looked up at the proctor with a smirk, "I don't think so! 'Cause this duel... is over! My turn, draw!"

**Turn 4 – Lance**

"First, I'll activate the spell card Monster Reborn! I'm sure I don't have to explain what this does, but I will anyway. This card lets me revive any monster from either of our graveyards! And I'll pick the first monster I sent to the graveyard with Dragon Shrine, the one, the only, the Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"

The black dragon of potential appeared on the field, roaring in rage as it saw its opponent, as if it were angry at Black Flare for serving another Duelist. Black Flare seemed to realize this as it shrunk back.

**Red-Eyes Black Dragon – Dark/Dragon/Normal/LV7 – 2400 ATK/2000 DEF**

"Don't worry, Red-Eyes. I'll end it this turn, so he'll be back with us soon." Lance declared.

The proctor raised an eyebrow, "Oh? As far as I can tell, Red-Eyes has the same amount of attack points as Black Flare, and I know for a fact that Red-Eyes has no effect."

Lance grinned, "It doesn't need one. This will end it either way! Now, Red-Eyes Black Dragon! Attack Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon! Inferno Fire Blast!" he commanded, surprising the proctor.

"But our monster's have the same amount of attack points! If you attack, both of them will be destroyed!" the man shouted.

"I know what I'm doing!" he replied, twitching only slightly at the man declaring Black Flare 'his'.

Red-Eyes opened its maw, gathering the energy for its signature attack, trusting its Duelist to know what he was doing.

"In that case, Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon! Return fire with your own Inferno Fire Blast!" he commanded. Black Flare opened its own mouth, hesitantly gathering energy for its own attack.

"Fire!/Attack!"

Both black dragons launched their identical attacks simultaneously, annihilating each other at the same moment.

"Now, I activate my face down, Red-Eyes Burn! When a Red-Eyes monster I control is destroyed, we both take damage equal to its attack points!" Lance revealed, activating his trap.

The proctor's eyebrows rose, "Ah, I understand. But I still fail to see how this ends in my defeat."

Lance smirked, "Well, then you should wait for me to finish. See, we would both take damage if it weren't for my _other _face-down, Barrel Behind the Door!" he revealed, thrusting his arm out. "Now, when a card is activated that would cause me effect damage, you take that damage instead!" he explained triumphantly. He could have activated this card when his opponent used Black Flare's effect, but he had already formed this plan when his opponent stole Black Flare from him.

The proctor's eyes widened, "But that's...!"

Lance grinned, "4800 points of damage! Which is more than you can spare!"

A large, fiery explosion overtook the whole field, engulfing the proctor. It also tried to engulf Lance as well, but the Barrel absorbed it before firing it back at the proctor, depleting the last of his Life Points.

**Lance: 3500  
****Proctor: 0**

"It's my win!" Lance said, smiling happily as the proctor walked over to him.

The man held out Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon to him, "Congratulations, applicant! Well done, and welcome to Duel Academy."

"Thanks! Happy to be here!" he replied, handing over Great Angus to the proctor.

* * *

_'Well, that wasn't too difficult.' _the red-haired teen thought absentmindedly as he made back to where he had been sitting before.

Noah seemed to be reassessing him as he got there, "Not bad."

Lance smiled, "Thanks. Hope you do well, even though you don't really need to, I guess."

Noah inclined his head in thanks, "I thought he had you when he took your dragon. You turned that around wonderfully. If I might ask, why did you not use Barrel Behind the Door when he used Black Flare's effect?"

"Oh, well, I could have, but I already had my strategy when he took Black Flare, and it wouldn't have really made a difference in the end." he explained.

Noah nodded in understanding, "I see. Well-"

He was cut off by a voice coming over the P.A. System, "Noah Thomas to field seven. Noah Thomas to field seven."

Noah sighed, rising from his seat. "Well, it seems it's my turn."

Lance nodded at him, "Good luck. I'll be watching." he said as Noah walked away. Thinking about it for a few seconds, he decided to find a seat closer to field seven so he could have a better view.

* * *

After a few minutes, Noah appeared on the field with his duel disk strapped to his arm. The proctor across from him – a different one that Lance had dueled – began speaking to him. Lance leaned forward to hear better.

"I see you've already been accepted into the Academy, applicant." the man said gruffly, activating his duel disk. "Let's see if you've earned it!"

Noah said nothing in reply, only activating his own duel disk.

"Let's Duel!"

**Noah: 8000  
****Proctor: 8000**

**Turn 1 – Proctor**

"My turn, draw! First off, I'll play the Field Spell, A Legendary Ocean!" the proctor announced, placing the card in the Field Spell zone. A large underwater city sprouted up around them, making it seem like they were dueling underwater. "This spell decreases the level of all Water attribute monsters on the field and in our hands by one. Also, all Water monsters gain 200 attack and defense points."

"Next, I'll play the continuous spell, Water Hazard! Once per turn, if I control no monsters, I can special summon one level 4 or lower Water monster in my hand. Since I do not control any monsters at the moment, I'll special summon Cyber Shark in attack mode!" the proctor declared. A large, cybernetic shark appeared on the field, roaring ferociously at Noah as its attack and defense points increased due to A Legendary Ocean.

**Cyber Shark – Water/Fish/Effect/LV5 - LV4 – 2100 ATK - 2300 ATK/2000 DEF - 2200 DEF**

"Next, I'll summon Mermaid Knight in attack mode!" he continued, a beautiful mermaid with a shield and sword appearing on his side of the field beside Cyber Shark.

**Mermaid Knight – Water/Aqua/Effect/LV4 - LV3 – 1500 ATK - 1700 ATK/700 DEF - 900 DEF **

"Now, I'll play the spell card, Aqua Jet! This lets me increase the attack points of one fish, sea serpent, or aqua type monster I control, and I pick Mermaid Knight!"

**Mermaid Knight – 1700 ATK - 2700 ATK**

"Finally, I'll place one card face down and end my turn."

Throughout all this, Noah continued to stare flatly at his opponent. "Hmph. My turn, draw."

**Turn 2 – Noah**

"First, by banishing two Infernoid monsters in my hand, I can special summon Infernoid Seitsemas in attack mode." Noah said stoically.

A large, predominantly purple, winged, metallic... _thing _appeared on the field, crying out with a grating metallic sound, carrying a spear in its right hand.

**Infernoid Seitsemas – Fire/Fiend/Effect/LV7 – 2600 ATK/0 DEF**

Noah then waved his arm in a grand gesture, "Now, Infernoid Seitsemas, attack Cyber Shark!"

Infernoid Seitsemas roared its metallic cry again before rushing forward and impaling the cybernetic shark through its eye, causing the shark to explode into thousands of tiny pixels.

**Noah: 8000  
****Proctor: 7700**

"Now, Seitsemas' effect activates! At the end of the Battle Phase, if this card attacked my opponent's monster, I can banish one card on the field, and I choose Mermaid Knight!" the black-haired boy exclaimed quietly. Infernoid Seitsemas raised its right arm and fired out a plume of purple fire at Mermaid Knight, causing it to cry out as it vanished into a void.

The proctor grimaced as he took Mermaid Knight off his duel disk and placed it into his deck pouch.

* * *

Up in the stands, Lance was impressed, _'Wow, he managed to clear the field of two powerful monsters in one turn easily.' _he thought with a smirk. _'Heh, I want to duel him.'_

* * *

"Next, I'll set a monster and finish my turn with a face down." Noah finished, crossing his arms.

**Turn 3 – Proctor**

The proctor grimaced as he took in situation, but continued the duel nonetheless, "My turn, draw! I play Pot of Greed! This allows me to draw two cards." the man said, doing so. Lance saw the smile that spread across his face from where he was sitting, "First, I activate the effect of Water Hazard. Since I control no monsters, I can special summon Space Mambo in attack mode!"

**Space Mambo – Water/Fish/Normal/LV4 - LV3 – 1700 ATK - 1900 ATK/1000 DEF - 1200 DEF**

"That card will not help your situation." Noah said flatly.

The proctor smiled, "Perhaps. But since I haven't normal summoned this turn, I can sacrifice Space Mambo to summon the mighty Levia-Dragon Daedalus in attack mode!"

An absolutely gigantic blue sea serpent appeared behind the proctor, its ear-shattering roar shaking the field.

**Levia-Dragon Daedalus – Water/Sea Serpent/Effect/LV7 - LV6 – 2600 ATK - 2800 ATK/1500 DEF - 1700 DEF**

The proctor thrust his arm out dramatically, "Even though my monster is now stronger than yours, I think I'll activate its effect instead! Now, by sending Umi on the field to the graveyard, I can destroy all cards on the field except for Daedalus!" he explained.

Noah's eyes widened slightly, "And A Legendary Ocean is treated as Umi..." he murmured to himself, but the proctor heard him anyway.

"That's right, applicant!" the man shouted as Levia-Dragon opened its maw wide and sucked in all the water around them.

Noah closed his eyes in annoyance, "I activate my trap, Spiritual Fire Art – Kurenai! With this trap, I tribute one of my Fire attribute monsters, and my opponent takes damage equal to that monster's attack points! And of course I'm going to tribute the only one I can, Infernoid Seitsemas! And that means 2600 points of damage!" he exclaimed. The proctor frowned, bracing himself for the damage.

**Noah: 8000  
****Proctor: 5100**

"Regardless of that, your last card will still be destroyed!" the man exclaimed as Daedalus fired a frankly impossible amount of water from its mouth, annihilating Noah's last card.

Noah smiled slightly, "The monster you just destroyed with Daedalus' effect was Fiendish Hound Octhros!" he began, showing the card to his opponent. "When this card is sent from the field to the graveyard, I can take one Level 8 Fiend type monster from my deck and add it to my hand. And the monster I choose is Infernoid Attondel!" he explained, grabbing the card from where it protruded from his deck.

* * *

Lance smiled, _'Man, he made that proctor's move more wasteful for him than hurtful to himself. I _really _want to duel him now. Still...'_

* * *

The proctor smiled, "Good move, applicant. However, that won't save you from my monster's attack!" he shouted, causing Noah to grimace, knowing it was the truth. "Now, Levia-Dragon Daedalus, attack!" Daedalus roared, spewing a high-pressure stream of water at the aspiring Obelisk.

**Noah: 5400  
****Proctor: 5100**

"And with that, I end my turn." the proctor finished.

Noah stood with his eyes closed, releasing a slow breath. His eyes suddenly snapped open, "My turn, draw!" he shouted as he ripped the top card from his deck.

**Turn 4 - Noah**

"I play Pot of Greed! This lets me draw twice more! Now, by banishing the two Infernoid monsters I just drew, I can special summon Infernoid Attondel from my hand." he explained, slamming the card down on his duel disk.

A massive mechanical dragon-like creature with a fire burning in its chest plate appeared behind Noah, its roar so thunderous it drew the attention of everyone in the testing center.

**Infernoid Attondel – Fire/Fiend/Effect/LV8 – 2800 ATK/0 DEF**

"Now I play Burial From a Different Dimension! With this card, I can select up to three of my banished monsters and return them to my graveyard!" Noah explained, taking the three Infernoid monsters from his deck pouch. "But they won't be staying around for long! Because now I banish two of them to special summon Infernoid Seitsemas from my graveyard in attack position!" he yelled while the mechanical creature reappeared on the field beside Attondel.

**Infernoid Seitsemas – Fire/Fiend/Effect/LV7 – 2600 ATK/0 DEF**

The proctor's mouth twisted into a deep frown, "It seems I've lost this duel. Go on, applicant. Finish this."

Noah inclined his head, "Very well. Now, Infernoid Attondel, attack Levia-Dragon Daedalus!"

Attondel screeched, crossing its enormous arms across its chest, building up the fire in its chest plate. Everything was still for a moment before Attondel uncrossed its arms sharply, kicking up a heavy wind while also firing a massive sphere of flames at Daedalus, annihilating it in a vast explosion.

**Noah: 5400  
****Proctor: 4900**

Noah thrust his arm out, "Now, Infernoid Attondel's effect activates! Whenever it destroys my opponent's monster, it can attack again! Go, Infernoid Attondel, attack him directly!" Infernoid Attondel roared once more, again firing a sphere of flames from its chest plate at the proctor.

**Noah: 5400  
****Proctor: 2100**

"Now, Infernoid Seitsemas! Attack him directly and finish this duel!" the black-haired boy ordered stonily.

Infernoid Seitsemas screeched, pulling its arm back and throwing its spear at the proctor, who gulped noticeably as the large, decorative weapon went through his chest.

If it had been real, it would surely have split him in half.

**Noah: 5400  
****Proctor: 0**

Noah's opponent took a deep breath, "Congratulations, applicant. Your performance just now shows that you certainly belong in this Academy. Welcome to Obelisk Blue." he congratulated, holding his hand out.

Noah nodded, shaking the man's hand, "Thank you. I'll be sure to learn much from such a prestigious institution."

* * *

Lance was applauding cheekily as Noah sat down next to him, "Good job, man. You had that duel under control from the beginning." he complimented, honestly impressed.

Noah inclined his head, "Thank you. As I said before, you did well, too."

Lance scoffed, "Not as well as you."

Noah simply shrugged, "Perhaps."

…

…

"...So, what do we do, now?" Lance asked after a short silence.

"It does not matter. You can leave. If you did well enough in your practical, you'll be contacted. I, on the other hand, am going to stay." Noah said brusquely.

"Scoping out the competition?" Lance asked perceptively, smirking wryly.

Noah hummed noncommittally.

"You mind if I stay?"

Noah looked at him from the corner of his eyes, "Not at all."

Both boys stayed for several more hours, watching duel after duel, some of which were better than others. Only a few really stuck out, such as Chazz Princeton, who Noah had gone to Preparatory School with, but didn't seem overly fond of, actually sneering when he first saw the boy. He Princeton was decent, but he gave off the air of thinking he was way, _way _better than he actually was.

Another was Alexis Rhodes, who won the duel with few life points, but clearly had control of it the entire time. Most of the hits to her life points were caused by her own cards and her taking direct attacks to save her monsters.

Noah also pointed out Bastion Misawa, who had gotten the highest score on the written exam of all the applicants that had taken it. He had won his duel, but neither Noah or Lance were all that impressed. His deck wasn't anything special – almost suspiciously so – and he hadn't performed any amazing moves. But, Lance supposed, the fact that he won was all that mattered in the end.

After Bastion, there was one more, last minute duel, one Jaden Yuki against...

"_What _in the world is _that_?" Lance exclaimed loudly.

Noah chuckled softly, "That would be Doctor Vellian Crowler. He's unfortunately the head of the Obelisk Blue boy's dorm as well as a Professor at Duel Academy." he said before his eyes narrowed. "Why is he dueling? That's not his job." he murmured to himself.

"Maybe that kid's a special case, or something?" Lance said, though he sounded as if he didn't believe it.

Noah leaned forward, linking his fingers together and resting his chin on them, "Hmm, I'm sure we'll see soon."

* * *

"Duel!"

**Jaden: 8000  
****Crowler: 8000**

**Turn 1 – Jaden**

"Well, here goes!" Jaden began, looking at his hand. "Sweet! I'm summoning Elemental Hero Avian in defense mode!"

**Elemental Hero Avian – Wind/Warrior/Normal/LV3 – 1000 ATK/1000 DEF**

"Next, I'll throw down a face down! Alright! Get your game on!" Jaden said, grinning.

**Turn 2 – Crowler**

Crowler grumbled as he drew, "Alright, first off, I'll play two face downs, and then play the spell card, Heavy Storm! This spell card destroys every other spell and trap card on the field!" he announced. A gale-force wind kicked up around the two duelists, destroying Jaden's trap – which turned out to be Draining Shield – as well as taking out both of Crowler's.

"Whoopsie! Did you forget that you had two trap cards on the field yourself?" Jaden yelled gleefully.

Crowler's mouth twisted into an ugly smirk, "Now, now, you really must learn not to speak out of turn!" he said condescendingly as the field around them darkened.

Jaden gasped, "What's happening?"

Crowler's smirk widened, "It's quite simple. Both of the trap cards that I just destroyed with Heavy Storm are known as Statue of the Wicked." he explained as two golden, snake-like creatures rose up in front of him, roaring at the Kuriboh-haired duelist. "When Statue of the Wicked is destroyed, I get to special summon two Wicked Tokens to the field!"

**Wicked Token – Dark/Fiend/Token/LV4 – 1000 ATK/1000 DEF**

**Wicked Token – Dark/Fiend/Token/LV4 – 1000 ATK/1000 DEF**

"Ready for your next lesson?" Crowler taunted smugly. But Jaden only laughed.

"Haha! You bet! I can't remember the last time learning was this much fun!" he said happily.

Crowler humphed, "Yes, well, I'm quite an excellent teacher, thank you." the supposed man then waved his arm in a grand gesture. "And now I sacrifice my two Wicked Tokens to summon Ancient Gear Golem!" he called out, a massive ancient-looking automaton appearing on the field behind him.

**Ancient Gear Golem – Earth/Machine/Effect/LV8 – 3000 ATK/3000 DEF**

* * *

"That is no test deck." Noah said, his eyes narrow.

Lance arched an eyebrow, "Really?"

The Infernoid duelist nodded seriously, "No test deck would have such powerful cards, especially not one as rare as that Ancient Gear Golem. In fact, I'd say that deck probably belongs to the Doctor himself."

Lance frowned slightly, "But why would he duel some random kid with his real deck?"

Noah stayed silent.

Lance's eyes suddenly widened, "Wait! Don't tell me it's because that Jaden kid came in a _little _late!" he blurted out.

Noah shrugged, "I don't know Crowler at all, but that seems to be the case." he answered stonily.

Lance slumped back in his seat, "Wow, that's low. I already don't like this guy." he muttered angrily, glowering at the blond man. "Let's hope that guy can turn it around."

Noah looked at him, "You suddenly want Yuki to win?"

"Yep." the redhead answered simply. "I don't like people like that."

* * *

"Now, now, I hope you're not too scared by my legendary Ancient Gear Golem." Crowler said smugly.

Jaden only smirked, "Aw, no way! I've always wanted to take one on!" he declared, causing gasps to erupt from the students watching the duel.

Crowler cackled, "Golem, attack! Mechanized Melee!"

Ancient Gear Golem pulled its massive, mechanical fist back before throwing it forward in a lurching way, smashing Avian into thousands of tiny, yellow pixels.

"And don't think you're safe just because your monster was in defense position. Because, you see, my Golem inflicts piercing damage!" Crowler announced shrilly.

Jaden gulped, bracing himself as Ancient Gear Golem's holographic fist went through him, taking a chunk of his life points with it.

**Jaden: 6000  
****Crowler: 8000**

Crowler chuckled, "Don't feel bad, this is the top Dueling School in the country!" he called out to Jaden smugly, who had his head down. "Some people simply aren't cut out for..."

He was cut off by Jaden laughing loudly, "Boy, I really want to come to this school now! You really know your stuff, teach."

Crowler gritted his teeth, growling. "I'll place one card face down and end my turn.

**Turn 3 – Jaden**

Jaden was oblivious to the blond Professor's anger. He drew his next card and stared at it in slight surprise. "Okay, I summon Winged Kuriboh in defense mode."

**Winged Kuriboh – Light/Fairy/Effect/LV1 – 300 ATK/200 DEF**

"And I'll place one card face down." Jaden finished. "Not bad, huh, teach?"

Crowler laughed loudly, "No, not bad, but you must understand... I'm a master tactician. A Kuriboh to me is rather pedestrian. Even if it _has _wings, its defense points are still no match for my Ancient Gear Golem's attack points. It's a textbook mistake, don't feel bad. Now, let's proceed." he said faux-soothingly.

**Turn 4 – Crowler**

"With the legendary Ancient Gear Golem! Attack that Kuriboh with Mechanized Melee!"

The small, furry creature stood no chance against the ancient machine's power and was annihilated instantly.

_'Sorry, Winged Kuriboh.' _Jaden thought regretfully.

"Hmph, check your gear. You're life points haven't changed." Crowler said with a frown.

Jaden smiled, "My gear's fine. On the turn Winged Kuriboh is destroyed, I take zero damage."

Crowler looked shocked, but quickly recovered, "Fine, fine. I guess your lame little monster save you there."

For the first time since the duel began, Jaden became upset, "Hey, slow down there! You may have beaten him, but that doesn't give you the right to call him lame!" the Kuriboh-head yelled indignantly.

Crowler chuckled, "Ah, yes, I forget how attacked you new duelists get to your monsters. I'm sorry." he said mockingly.

Jaden smirked, "Well you should be! Because by destroying my monster, you set off my trap card! One of my favorites, too! Hero Signal!" A bright light shot out of the trap, making a stylized 'H' on the ceiling above them. "And that brings out my second Elemental Hero, Burstinatrix!"

The first female Elemental Hero appeared on the field in a small burst of flames and a war cry.

**Elemental Hero Burstinatrix – Fire/Warrior/Normal/LV3 – 1200 ATK/800 DEF**

**Turn 5 – Jaden**

"My turn, draw!" Jaden continued. "Alright, Winged Kuriboh, this next one's gonna be for you. First off, I'm gonna bring back Avian to my hand with the spell card, The Warrior Returning Alive! And now I'm gonna summon him to the field!" Jaden retrieved the feathered Hero and immediately placed it onto his duel disk.

**Elemental Hero Avian – Wind/Warrior/Normal/LV3 – 1000 ATK/1000 DEF**

"Oh, okay, another amateurish mistake, but this is good, this is good... Now, would anyone like to tell me what our little friend here-"

"_Actually_, I wasn't done yet." Jaden cut in. "See, I know neither of my heroes are very powerful by themselves, but if I can form them together, that's another story!" Jaden said, taking another card from his hand and showing it to his opponent. "And I have just the card to unite them! Polymerization! Join Avian and Burstinatrix! Fusion Summon! Level Six! Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!" Jaden cried passionately.

Avian and Burstinatrix were sucked into a swirling void, and reappearing in their place was a powerful-looking red and green amalgamation of both with a large dragon head for a right hand.

**Elemental Hero Flame Wingman – Wind/Warrior/Fusion/Effect/LV6 – 2100 ATK/1200 DEF**

"I hope your Gear Golem is ready for a clash of the titans!" Jaden said with a grin on his face. "So, teach, what do ya think?"

"I think you're dueling very well for an amateur. But next time, try summoning a monster with more attack points than what's already on the field." Crowler answered snobbishly. "Now, I am a busy man, so are you done yet?"

"Of _course _I'm not done yet! And of course I knew that my Flame Wingman had less attack points than your Golem. That's why I had this." Jaden said, showing the last card in his hand to his opponent. "Skyscraper."

As soon as he placed the Field Spell into his duel disk, holographic skyscrapers sprouted up around him and the field was shrouded in a moonlit darkness, mimicking a city during the nighttime. Flame Wingman rose up and took a perch on the highest building.

Jaden grinned widely, "Alright Flame Wingman, go show those heroics and attack that Ancient Gear Golem! Skydive Scorcher!"

Flame Wingman grunted, enveloping himself in fire as he leapt from his perch, diving straight for the Ancient Gear Golem.

Crowler snickered, "Fine with me. Bring him on! This silly little field spell hasn't lowered my Golem's attack points at all!"

"Yeah, but whenever an Elemental Hero monster attack another monster that has more attack points than it and Skyscraper is on the field, that Hero gains 1000 attack points!" Jaden explained triumphantly.

**Elemental Hero Flame Wingman – 2100 ATK - 3100 ATK**

Crowler blanched, "W-Wait! Time-out!" he cried, but it was for naught as Jaden's monster annihilated his ace.

**Jaden: 6000  
****Crowler: 7900**

"T-This can't be! He was one of my best cards!" the Ancient Gear duelist bemoaned.

Jaden interrupted the man's lamenting, "_And_, thanks to Flame Wingman's effect, you take damage equal to that Golem's attack points. Sweet, huh?"

"N-No way..."

**Jaden: 6000  
****Crowler: 4900**

* * *

Lance laughed, "Man, he turned that around quick!"

Noah was smiling slightly, "Perhaps, but its not over yet."

* * *

**Turn 6 – Crowler**

Crowler growled loudly, "You think you can make a fool of me! It's not over yet! My turn, draw!" He looked at the card in his hand and smiled, "My hand is a little low right now, so I think I'll fill it up with the spell card, Card of Sanctity! This card allows both of us to draw until we hold six cards in our hand." he explained as he refilled his hand, Jaden doing the same. Crowler then smiled in a _very _unfriendly way, "Ah, perfect. First, I think I'll activate the spell, Mystical Space Typhoon! This handy little card allows me to destroy one spell or trap card on the field, and I think I'll pick Skyscraper!"

Jaden grimaced as his field spell was annihilated by the massive space vortex.

Crowler laughed uproariously, "Now, I'll summon Red Gadget in attack mode!"

**Red Gadget – Earth/Machine/Effect/LV4 – 1300 ATK/1500 DEF**

"Uh, teach, that monster doesn't have enough attack points to beat my Flame Wingman..." Jaden trailed off awkwardly.

"All in due time. And my little friend here has an effect. Whenever Red Gadget is summoned, I can bring one Yellow Gadget to my hand from my deck." Crowler continued, grabbing the card from where it was protruding from his deck. "Next, I'll activate my continuous trap, Ultimate Offering!" Crowler began, thrusting his arm out as the trap card he had placed on his first turn revealed itself. "This nifty little trap allows me to to summon another monster by paying a trivial 500 life points. I think I'll use its effect now to summon Yellow Gadget!"

**Jaden: 6000  
****Crowler: 4400**

The small yellow mechanical creature appeared on the field next to its red counterpart.

**Yellow Gadget – Earth/Machine/Effect/LV4 – 1200 ATK/1200 DEF**

"Er, I'm still not seeing it..."

"Patience, young scholar. You see, the wonderful think about my Ultimate Offering is that I can use it however my times I wish!" he revealed grandly.

Jaden blinked, "Really? Wow, that's one sweet card."

Crowler chuckled, "Indeed it is. Now, I'll use its effect once again, paying another measly 500 life points..."

**Jaden: 6000  
****Crowler: 3900**

"...And sacrifice my Red Gadget and my Yellow Gadget to summon my _other _rare monster, Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon!"

With an ear-shattering roar, the ancient mechanical dragon-like beast appeared on the field, its form even bigger than that of the Ancient Gear Golem.

**Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon – Earth/Machine/Effect/LV8 – 3000 ATK/2000 DEF**

* * *

Lance leaned forward, his eyes wide, "Whoa, he had _another _monster just as powerful as that Golem?"

Noah watched the duel blankly, "So it seems. This certainly isn't good for Yuki."

"Yeah, that combo with Skyscraper and Flame Wingman was great, but I don't see how he'll get out of this one." the redhead said, grimacing.

* * *

"Now, Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon! Annihilate Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!" Crowler ordered gleefully. The great creature roared in response before it lurched forward and snapped its powerful jaws around Flame Wingman, who cried out as he was destroyed.

**Jaden: 5100  
****Crowler: 3900**

Jaden grimaced as he watched one of his favorite monsters be annihilated. Crowler's voice shook him out of his thoughts.

"And that's not all, Yuki!" the blond man grinned. "You see, depending on which monsters I sacrificed to summon it, my Gadjiltron Dragon gains two different effects!"

"What?!"

Crowler snickered, "Oh, yes, and since I summoned it using Red Gadget, whenever my Dragon inflicts you with battle damage, you take an extra 400 points of damage!"

Jaden grimaced as his life points dropped further.

**Jaden: 4700  
****Crowler: 3900**

But Crowler wasn't finished, "_And _since I summoned it by _also _sacrificing Yellow Gadget, whenever it destroy a monster by battle, you take yet another 600 points of damage!" he revealed, cackling loudly as Jaden's life points took another hit.

**Jaden: 4100  
****Crowler: 3900**

"Now, do you see? Your field is empty and I doubt you have a monster capable of competing with my Dragon. Why don't you just surrender now and perhaps keep a little of your dignity?" Crowler taunted, a smug smile on his face.

Jaden only laughed, "No way! I have to admit, that's one powerful card, but I'll never give up until my life points hit zero! My turn, draw!"

**Turn 7 – Jaden**

Jaden grinned, "Aw, sweet! Thanks to your Card of Sanctity, I drew another Polymerization! And I think I'll play it now! So, I'll fuse the Elemental Hero Ocean and the Elemental Hero Ice Edge in my hand to Fusion Summon the Level Eight _Elemental Hero Absolute Zero!_" the Hero user cried out.

Ice spread across the floor and in a blast of cold mist, a warrior in elegant snow-white armor and a long white cape appeared on the field with a battle cry.

**Elemental Hero Absolute Zero – Water/Warrior/Fusion/Effect/LV8 – 2500 ATK/2000 DEF**

Crowler shrugged, "Impressive monster, I admit, but without Skyscraper, I'm afraid he stands no chance against my Dragon."

"I know that!" Jaden said with a big smile. "But he won't be sticking around long! Because now I play the spell card, De-Fusion! Now, by sending Absolute Zero back to my Extra Deck, I can special summon both monsters I fused together onto the field! Say hello to Elemental Hero Ocean and Elemental Hero Ice Edge!"

In a burst of cold mist, Absolute Zero vanished from the field and in his place a fish-like warrior with a large spear and what looked like a smaller weaker version of Absolute Zero appeared on Jaden's field.

**Elemental Hero Ocean – Water/Warrior/Effect/LV4 – 1500 ATK/1200 DEF**

**Elemental Hero Ice Edge – Water/Warrior/Effect/LV3 – 800 ATK/900 DEF**

"And what, pray tell, was the point of that?" Crowler scoffed.

"That's easy! See, whenever Absolute Zero leaves the field, all monsters my opponent controls are automatically destroyed." Jaden explained happily.

Crowler stood uncomprehendingly for a moment before the realization hit him, "It can't be!" he screamed as he looked up at his dragon, which, sure enough, was being steadily covered in a thick layer of ice. With a mournful groan, Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon shattered into thousands of pixels.

"And now, since I haven't normal summoned this turn, I can summon Elemental Hero Lady Heat!" Jaden continued, the second female Elemental Hero appearing on the field beside the other two Heroes.

**Elemental Hero Lady Heat – Fire/Pyro/Effect/LV4 – 1300 ATK/1000 DEF**

Jaden thrust his arm out, "Now, Elemental Hero Ocean! Ice Edge! Lady Heat! Attack him directly!"

Crowler stepped back, a horrified look on his face as he was blasted with water, ice, and fire, "No, no, no!"

**Jaden: 4100  
****Crowler: 300**

* * *

Noah smiled in slight amusement, "Yuki is completely overwhelming Crowler."

Lance had no response. He was too busy laughing.

* * *

The blond Professor stood stock-still with a furious look plastered on his face, "Y-You little...!" he trailed off, taking a deep breath to calm down. After looking at his remaining hand, that anger turned into glee and he began chuckling, which soon turned into an uproarious laugh.

Jaden looked confused, "Uh... are you okay, Doc?"

Crowler looked at him with amusement, "Oh, I'm fine, my boy! Just fine! You certainly had a fine showing, but I'm afraid this is as far as you go."

"Huh?"

"Yes, you see, with the cards I have in my hand, my victory is assured." the Professor said arrogantly.

"Uh..."

"Yes, next turn I will activate Monster Reborn to revive my Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon! And then, using Limiter Removal, I can double its attack points. True, my Dragon will be destroyed during my end phase, but since its attack points will be a whopping 6000, that will be more than enough to take out the rest of your life points no matter which monster I choose to destroy." Crowler explained smugly, cackling once more.

* * *

Lance looked incredulously at the blond man, "Did he _seriously _just tell his opponent his strategy?"

Noah shook his head, a disgusted sneer on his face, "Fool."

* * *

Jaden decided to interrupt the blond man's gloating, "Er, I hate to burst your bubble, doc, but you're not gonna have a next turn..." he said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head.

Crowler pinned the boy with his gaze, "What are you babbling on about? You've already summoned this turn and conducted your battle phase! There's nothing left for you to do."

"Not exactly. See, my Lady Heat has an effect..."

Crowler began to feel a pit of dread form in his stomach.

"...when I end my turn, you take 200 points of damage..."

The pit of dread began to loosen as he realized he'd still have some points left. That is, until Jaden finished.

"...for every Elemental Hero monster on my field." the Kuriboh-head said, flashing his opponent a peace sign. Lady Heat raised here arms and gathered a small ball of flames before firing it at the Ancient Gear duelist.

"W-What?! This can't be!" Crowler choked out as his life points dwindled to zero.

**Jaden: 4100  
****Crowler: 0**

Jaden winked and pointed his fingers at Crowler, "And that's game!"

"NOOOOOOOOO!"

* * *

"Ha! He's pretty good! Wouldn't mind dueling him myself." Lance said with a grin. Noah nodded in agreement as they both watched Jaden celebrate his entrance into the Academy and flash peace signs at the watching audience.

Soon after, Lance and Noah parted ways, the former returning home to celebrate his Academy entrance with his mother and brother.

* * *

As you've seen, I will be using the occasional anime/manga only cards, and sometimes I'll also use the anime effect while other times I'll use the real effect. It works out better this way.

If your wondering why I'm using 8000 instead of 4000, well, the burn damage of Black Flare and later on, Black Dragon Archfiend is just so massive, I had to find a way to make duels last longer than a couple turns, especially since he could get out both rather easily, albeit perhaps not in the same turn.

By the way, Arc-V's pretty kick-ass, isn't it? Even though I'm not really a fan of Pendulum Summoning.

Until next time!


	2. Tag Duel At Midnight

Hmm, I have to say, the reception was actually better than I thought it would be. Thank you to those who checked this story out, whether you liked it or not. And especially to those of you who Reviewed/Favorited/Followed.

**SuperNeos2: **Thank you.

**sUbSoNicSoundwave:** Thank you.

**Above the Winter Moonlight: **Thank you. To be honest, the new Red-Eyes cards were the main reason I decided to do this. I just love them to death.

**Shane Kor:** Thank you.

**EndlessNight025: **Thank you. And Red-Eyes is my favorite archetype currently, so I couldn't resist.

**Guest: **I'm not doing romance, but I'd be lying if I said that thought hadn't crossed my mind.

**Emily A. Milene: **You flatter me. Yeah, I just don't think I'd be good at romance, and I don't really care for it, so that never crossed my mind. About Arc-V, yes, actually I do, but not for a long time.

**Zero Slash One: **Thank you for your compliments. Sincerely, they brought me joy. Er, well actually, due to the circumstances under which he received the Synchro monsters, Lance will be the only one in with Synchros in Season 2. But I will take your suggestion for Alexis under consideration for Season 3/4. Yeah, I'd have rather used 4000 LP, but the burn damage was just so ridiculous... Actually, Gorz is going to appear pretty soon, and I don't see a problem with using the R effect. In fact, it would probably work better in the situation I'm imagining it for. Thank you again. I was actually afraid I wasn't being descriptive enough, so to see someone enjoy them eases my mind. I fell the stats are rather necessary, so I don't think I'll change that, sorry.

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything about Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, or anything to do with the franchise at all.**

With that, let's begin.

* * *

A week after the Entrance Exams, Lance was sent off to Academy Island by his tearful mother and his crestfallen brother. He promised to do his best and write often, but that didn't seem to improve their moods any.

For some odd reason, the new students were ferried to Academy Island in helicopters that could only carry up to twelve people at a time. Why they couldn't just take a ship, Lance didn't know, but seeing the beautiful sea pass by below him was a wondrous sight, so it didn't really matter much to him.

As he and the other students on this particular helicopter ride disembarked, a female staff member in an Obelisk uniform was waiting for them with a smile on her face and a clipboard in her hand.

"Hello, new students, and welcome to Duel Academy!" she said cheerfully. "I'm Fonda Fontaine, head of the Obelisk Blue Girl's dorm, as well as the Physical Education instructor, and the School Nurse. If you ever have a medical problem, please feel free to come to me. Now, I'm going to take you to get your dorm assignments, your uniforms and you'll hear a few words from Chancellor Sheppard. Follow me, please."

Lance looked around as she lead them to the massive, domed Academy building. The island looked just like any other island, a bit humid but nothing too bad. His small group passed by the extravagant Obelisk Blue boy's dorm, where apparently every student got their own private suite, complete with a flat-screen TV, a King Size bed and a top-of-the-line computer with high-speed internet. Each room also had its own private bathroom, which was apparently just as lavish as the room it was attached to.

He was so jealous.

He didn't attend the Prep school – his mother didn't have that kind of money – so he had no delusions that he would be put into the Blue Dorm, and true, everyone in the Ra Yellow dorm got their own smaller rooms, but he honestly couldn't wait to be promoted so he could get one of those rooms to himself.

More importantly, Obelisk Blue was probably were most of the best Duelists were. Granted, there were definitely some good Duelists in Ra Yellow, but for all their arrogance, most of the kids in blue that he saw Duel at the entrance exams usually _were_ just better than the rest. If he wanted to prove he was the best freshman, and more importantly have a better chance at going pro, the Blue Dorm was the place to be.

And if that also meant taking down the overblown arrogance many of them seemed to have, well, then, all the better.

The Red-Eyes Duelist was broken out of his thoughts as Fontaine led his group into a large auditorium-like classroom, which looked like it could fit the entire freshman class. There was a table on the platform where the Professor would stand as s/he gave lectures, and on it was a stack of twelve uniforms, two blue, six yellow, and four red.

Since there were only twelve of them, she got through the list rather quickly. Lance received his Ra Yellow uniform and school-issued PDA with a smile, and went to the changing rooms because, apparently, as soon as you got you're uniform, you were to wear nothing else. He kept the yellow jacket unzipped because it was more comfortable that way, and also kept his dragon-head pendant, but otherwise, he looked like the standard Ra Yellow student.

After a short recorded speech from the Chancellor, the students were released to wander the Academy grounds – except for the Girls Dorm, which was off limits to boys – to meet other students, etc., etc.

With nothing else to do, Lance decided to go to the Ra Dorm and check out his new room. As he exited, he came across the newest and most infamous student currently at the Academy.

The one and only Jaden Yuki.

For some reason that was most likely Crowler-related, he was in the Slifer uniform instead of Ra, where he obviously belonged, and he was speaking with who Lance identified as Bastion Misawa – who was in a yellow uniform – and another, very short boy with blue hair, also in a Slifer uniform.

The redhead was debating whether or not to introduce himself when he heard Bastion refer to Jaden as Number 1. As in, Number 1 freshman...

Well, he certainly couldn't let that go.

"Now that's a little presumptuous, don't you think?"

The three boys turned to him in surprise. He smiled at them, showing he meant no trouble. Bastion turned to face him fully.

"And who might you be?" he questioned politely.

"Lance Drake! Nice to meet you." Lance said, giving a two-fingered salute.

"Hmm. And I suppose you believe yourself to be the top student?" Bastion said with a slight sarcastic undertone.

Lance shrugged, "Well, I certainly know I'm good enough to be the top freshman, but I won't know for sure until I Duel the ones that impressed me at the entrance exam."

Bastion considered this, "I suppose that's a fair way of thinking."

The redhead turned to Jaden. "Speaking of, I have to say you're Duel was pretty impressive, Jaden."

The Kuriboh-head smiled, "Hey, thanks man."

"You're also one of the five students I believe I need to defeat to prove myself the best new student." Lance continued, giving the other boy a challenging smile.

Jaden grinned back, "Well, I'm always up for a Duel! Let's do it right now!"

The short kid next to Jaden pipes up nervously, "Uh, Jaden? W-We should probably check out our dorm first."

"Aw, but I wanna duel..." Jaden whined.

"I don't have my Duel Disk on me, so we couldn't have Dueled right now, anyway. " Lance said as he slipped by them. "But come by the Ra Dorm whenever you like and I'll Duel you!"

"I will!"

As he walked away, Lance barely heard Bastion bid the two Slifers farewell. "Well, I must be getting to the Ra Dorm as well. Farewell."

A few moments later, the apparent genius caught up to him, "So, if I might inquire, who are the other four freshman you believe you need to defeat to be the best first year?"

Lance looked at him from the corner of his eye, "Wondering if you're on the list?"

Bastion scoffed, "Hardly. I simply wish to know which students one of my fellow Ras consider worthy of Dueling. Perhaps I will Duel them myself."

"Hmm... I guess I can tell you. Well, first is my friend Noah. He's an Obelisk Blue and uses incredibly powerful monsters with deadly effects. During his Duel, he completely overwhelmed the proctor. It was incredible." Lance began, remembering how his friend dominated the proctor.

"Indeed?" Bastion muttered, looking intrigued.

"Yep. Anyway, next is Alexis Rhodes. She controlled the Duel from start to finish, even if she did lose a good deal of her life points. And then, there's Chazz Princeton. He... wasn't _too _good, but clearly better than most others. I don't mean to sound arrogant, but I probably wouldn't have too much trouble with him." the Red-Eyes Duelist continued.

"I see..." Bastion trailed off, tilting his head, "I find it odd how you remember their names."

Lance just shrugged, "I always remember the names of strong Duelists, Sebastion."

Bastion froze in shock, gaping at the redhead. "W-What did you call me?"

"I'm just joking!" he laughed. "I know your name is Bastion. In fact, you are the last freshman I need to beat to be the best."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah... hopefully we can Duel soon. It should be easiest since we share a dorm." he stated.

"Perhaps." Bastion responded carefully. "In fact, there's a slight chance we might Duel in the promotion exams later this month."

Lance raised a brow, "Promotion Exams a month in? That's a little early for it, don't you think?"

"I believe it's more to see if students are improving rather than for actually promoting them." Bastion replied.

Lance supposed he had a point. But hey, if he already had an opportunity to get into those lavish Blue dorms, he'd take it!

* * *

Later that night, after a fantastic Five-Star dinner (it was truly the best food he had ever had in his entire life), where he sat next to Bastion and a kid with spiky hair who seemed to be imitating everyone around him, he was laying on the bed in his room.

It was pretty nice. Decent-sized with a big closet – though why he needed it when all he had was a few black shirts and pants, he didn't know – and a nice computer with internet access.

He spent a little while wondering what his first day in classes would be like. Would he find it simple, or would it be far more difficult than he expected? Well, considering it was the top Dueling school in the world, they would of course cover the most complex topics, among other things.

The sound of his PDA ringing shrilly shook him out of his thoughts. He fumbled around for a few moments before finding the device and pressing the answer button.

Noah's stony face appeared on the screen, "Lance."

"Oh, hey Noah." he greeted with a smile. "What's up?"

"I just saw Princeton leaving the dorm. I believe he is going to go Duel someone, and I was going to go watch. Would you like to join me?" he asked stoically.

The redhead's mouth twisted into a frown. Princeton was on his list so it would be a good opportunity to check out the competition – not to mention the fact that he'd never turn down watching a good Duel – so of course he'd go, but, "...How did you get my PDA number?"

"Obelisk students have access to the list that holds every student's PDA numbers." the Infernoid Duelist answered promptly.

"…"

"..."

"..."

"...That's kinda creepy."

"Are you coming or not?"

"Yeah, sure. Where?"

"The Obelisk Dueling arena. Do you know where that is?" Noah asked plainly.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be there in a little while." he answered, hanging up the PDA.

As he was putting his shoes on, a thought occurred to him. _'Hmm. He doesn't seem like the type who would just ask another person to go watch a Duel with him. And how does he _know _that's what Princeton is going to do, or even that's where he's going?'_

After a few more moments of thinking about this, the red-haired boy turned and grabbed the Duel Disk the school gave out to every student. He strapped in onto his right arm, made sure his deck was on him, and finally left the dorm, heading for where he knew the Duel arena was.

* * *

He met up with Noah – who also had a Duel Disk – just outside the entrance to the arena. The black-haired Obelisk nodded to him before turning and walking down the dark entryway, Lance following along.

As they got closer, a rather arrogant-sounding voice wafted toward them, "...see whether it was luck or skill that beat Professor Crowler, slacker."

"Not so fast, Chazz." Noah interrupted loudly before the Duel could begin, causing five pairs of eyes to snap towards he and Lance.

Chazz scowled slightly, "Noah? What are you doing here?"

Jaden blinked, "Uh, who are you?"

Noah ignored both of them and turned to Lance, "I apologize, but I'm afraid I lied when I told you the reason I wanted you to come here. I actually asked you here so we could Duel."

"I know," Lance said wryly, raising his right arm, "That's kind of why I brought my Duel Disk with me. But you know you didn't have to lie to get a duel with me, right?"

"Regardless, we're here now, so will you accept my challenge?" the black-haired Obelisk asked.

Lance smirked, "Of course... But why right now? Especially when these two are about to Duel?"

"That's what I want to know." Chazz sneered.

Noah turned, walking up the stairs to stand next to the Princeton, "Well, you are not the only one I want to Duel, Lance." he replied, turning to glance at Jaden.

"Uh, you mean me?" Jaden blinked, pointing to himself. Noah nodded, causing Jaden to grin, "Huh, well, I'm always up for a Duel! We'll have to do it after I beat Chazz, though."

Chazz growled at that before he turned to Noah, "How did you even know where I was and what I was going to do?"

Noah rolled his eyes, "I spent three years with you at Prep school, Chazz. I knew you would never let someone like Jaden get away with defeating a so-called elite like Crowler. It was obvious to me who you were going to Duel." he answered before turning back to Jaden, "Also, the reason I came here now along with Lance was to propose a Tag Duel, Chazz and I against you and Lance."

"Oh, I get it." Lance said, walking up to the Dueling platform to stand next to Jaden. "You want to test both of us at the same time, right? See where we stand? Well, alright, then. I'm fine with Dueling with Jaden. I want to see how I'd fare against you anyway, Noah. Are you alright with this, Jaden?"

Jaden smiled, "Hey, that's fine with me."

"Tch. Fine." Chazz consented with an irritated expression on his face. "But just so you know, we're using the Ante rule. Whichever team loses has to hand over their best card to the winning team."

Noah hummed, silently agreeing to the conditions, while Lance nodded his agreement.

"Hah!" One of Chazz's lackeys crowed. "You don't stand a chance against these two! They were the top students at Prep school. A couple of no-names like you two stand no chance!"

"Uh, Jaden, are you sure this is a good idea?" the short, blue-haired Slifer asked nervously.

"Aw, come on, Syrus! It'll be fine!" Jaden said, waving him off.

"Enough talking." Noah called.

Lance smirked, "I agree. It's time to..."

"DUEL!"

**Noah&amp;Chazz: 8000  
****Lance&amp;Jaden: 8000**

"It's my move first!" Chazz declared, drawing the top card of his deck.

**Turn 1 – Chazz**

"First, I'll summon Reborn Zombie in defense mode!" he started, placing the card on his Duel Disk.

**Reborn Zombie – Dark/Zombie/Effect/LV4 – 1000 ATK/1600 DEF**

"Next, I'll place one card face down and end my turn." Chazz finished. "Your move, slacker."

Jaden smirked, "I guess that's one way to start a Duel, but I'm gonna go a little bigger!" he said, drawing his card.

**Turn 2 – Jaden**

"I'll play Polymerization! Fusing Elemental Hero Avian and Burstinatrix..." he called as the holograms of the two monsters appeared on the field, rising up into the air before their forms started swirling together. "To bring out Elemental Hero Flame Wingman in attack mode!"

**Elemental Hero Flame Wingman – Wind/Warrior/Fusion/Effect/LV6 – 2100 ATK/1200 DEF**

Chazz chuckled, "I was hoping you'd do that."

"Why's that?" the Hero user asked.

Chazz thrust his arm out, "'Cause of this! I activate my trap card, Chthonian Polymer!"

"What does that do?" Syrus wondered.

Before anyone could answer him, a new, female voice cut in, "I had a feeling I'd find you guys here."

Everyone turned towards the entrance to see who Lance knew was Alexis Rhodes standing there with her arms crossed.

"Alexis?" Syrus said in surprise.

"Chthonian Polymer is a nasty trap. When your opponent summons a Fusion monster, it allows you to take control of it by sacrificing one of your own monsters." she explained, ignoring Syrus' surprise at seeing her.

Syrus' eyes widened, "Oh, no! Jaden just summoned a Fusion monster."

"That's right. Now, I'll sacrifice Reborn Zombie to gain control of your Wingman." Chazz continued.

Reborn Zombie dispersed into particles and Flame Wingman vanished from his position in front of Jaden, only to reappear in front of Chazz, surrounded by a dark aura and snarling at its former owner.

"Aw, my monster." Jaden grimaced.

Chazz laughed, "You're so predictable, Jaden. I knew you'd summon that monster the first chance you got, so I made sure I could turn it to my advantage." he gloated.

"Still, since Wingman was a Special Summon, I'm allowed to summon another monster during my turn." Jaden retorted, looking down at the three cards in his hand with a grimace. Chazz just looked at Jaden with a twisted smirk on his face, knowing the Hero user probably had nothing in his hand that could compete with the Flame Wingman.

"Alright, I summon Elemental Hero Clayman in defense mode. And that's it for me." the Kuriboh-head finished as a large, blocky creature appeared in front of him with a grunt.

"Hmph. My turn, draw." Noah started.

**Turn 3 – Noah**

"To begin with, I'll play the Field Spell, Void Expansion." Noah said quietly. As soon as he placed the card into the Field Spell Zone, their surroundings transformed into a dark, misty void surrounded by what seemed like blue fire.

"Aw man, this is creepy." Syrus cried, wrapping his arms around himself.

"Thanks to this card, I can Special Summon one Infernoid Token to my field during each of my Standby Phases. Now, by banishing one Infernoid monster in my hand, I can Special Summon Infernoid Harmadik in attack mode." he called, placing his monster on his Duel Disk.

A winged, machine-like Fiend appeared on the field, screeching at its enemies.

**Infernoid Harmadik – Fire/Fiend/Effect/LV3 – 1600 ATK/0 DEF**

"And just so you know, once per turn, at the cost of not being able to attack, Harmadik can destroy one monster on the field." Noah said, making it clear he was talking more to Chazz rather than Lance or Jaden. "Finally, I'll set one face-down and end my turn."

Lance smiled, "Finally. My turn, draw!"

**Turn 4 – Lance**

"First I'll activate the spell Graceful Charity! This card allows me to draw three cards as long as I then discard two." he explained, doing so. "Now, I'll play the Ritual Spell, Red-Eyes Transmigration!"

"A Ritual monster?" Noah wondered.

Lance grinned, "Oh, yes. And this particular Ritual Spell allows me to banish monsters from my graveyard instead of sacrificing them from my hand or field. So I'll banish the two monsters I discarded because of Graceful Charity's effect, Red-Eyes Wyvern and Red-Eyes Tracer Dragon," he continued, taking the two level four monsters from his graveyard and putting them in his deck box. "In order to Ritual summon... _Lord of the Red!_"

There was an explosion of flame on the field, and from the center of it emerged a large man in black, spiny, winged armor that resembled the Red-Eyes Black Dragon.

**Lord of the Red – Fire/Dragon/Ritual/Effect/LV8 – 2400 ATK/2100 DEF**

"That's a pretty sweet monster you got there." Jaden complimented.

"Thanks." Lance replied. "Finally, since I can't attack, I'll just set two cards and end my turn." the redhead finished.

"Then it's my move!" Chazz declared. "Draw!"

**Turn 5 – Chazz**

"Now, I'll activate the effect of Void Expansion, summoning an Infernoid Token to my field in defense mode!" he cried as the blue flames surrounding them coalesced together in front of Chazz, forming a small Token that resembled a glass jar.

**Infernoid Token – Fire/Fiend/Token/LV1 – 0 ATK/0 DEF**

"Thank you, Chazz." Lance cut in with a smirk. "Because you just activated my Lord of the Red's effect! Once per turn, during either of our turns, when a card or effect is activated, Lord of the Red can destroy one Spell or Trap Card on the field, and I think I'll get rid of Void Expansion!" he revealed, clenching his fist.

"What?" Noah grunted unhappily.

Lord of the Red formed a small ball of fire between he hands before he tossed it into the center of the void. Everything was silent for a moment before the ball of fire expanded rapidly, overtaking and annihilating Void Expansion.

"Hmph. Whatever." Chazz commented dismissively. "Anyway, now I'll sacrifice my Infernoid Token to summon Helpoemer in attack mode!"

A hideous, putrid, mummy-like creature appeared on the field with a pained groan.

**Helpoemer – Dark/Fiend/Effect/LV5 – 2000 ATK/1400 DEF**

"Why would Chazz summon that monster in attack mode?" Syrus wondered in confusion. "Neither it or Flame Wingman have enough attack points to destroy Lord of the Red."

"You're forgetting about Harmadik's effect." Alexis said, crossing her arms.

"Huh?"

Chazz smiled in an unfriendly way, "Alexis is right! Now, I'll use Harmadik's effect! At the cost of not being able to attack with it, I can destroy one monster on the field! So say goodbye to your Lord of the Red!"

But Lance only smiled, "Not so fast, Chazz! I activate my face-down, a Quick-Play Spell known as Forbidden Chalice!"

Noah clucked his tongue and Chazz tsked. Jaden only blinked in confusion. "Uh, I don't get it."

Lance smirked, "You see, Jaden, with Forbidden Chalice, I can target one monster on the field and give it four hundred extra attack points! But the monster I pick also has its effects negated!"

"Oh, I get it! So you're going to negate that Harmadik's effect, right?" the Kuriboh-head asked.

The redhead nodded, "That's right!" he said as Forbidden Chalice took effect.

**Infernoid Harmadik – 1600 ATK » 2000 ATK/0 DEF**

"And even with that attack boost, you can't take out Jaden's Clayman, not to mention my Lord!" the Red-Eyes Duelist said gleefully. "But that's not all!"

Noah furrowed his eyebrows, "What do you mean?"

"Because a card was activated, Lord of the Red's effect activates!" Lance continued with a broad smile.

"..."

"What are you, stupid? You've already activated his effect this turn, and you yourself said you could only use it once per turn." Chazz yelled, laughing derisively, causing his lackeys to laugh along with him. Even Jaden looked awkward, and Lance heard Syrus mumble about how he thought that was a mistake only he would have made.

Man, but that kid had some self-confidence issues. It reminded him of his brother.

Lance chuckled, "Ah, so little faith! It's true that I already used it's effect to destroy Void Expansion this turn, but, see, Lord of the Red has a different, yet _very _similar effect." he taunted.

Chazz and Noah's eyes narrowed, "What?"

"Yep! Once per turn, when a card or effect is activated, I can destroy one monster on the field!" the red-haired boy revealed, making a grand gesture.

"No way!" Chazz yelled.

"Damn." Noah commented.

"Aw, sweet." Jaden smiled.

"Sweet is right, Jaden! Now, Lord of the Red! Destroy Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!" he ordered loudly. Lord of the Red obliged, throwing a small sphere of flames at Flame Wingman, exploding on contact and causing the Hero to shatter into a thousand pixels.

"Wow, that's one powerful monster." Syrus said in awe.

_'It really is.' _Alexis agreed inwardly.

Chazz gritted his teeth, looking at his hand, "I'll set one face-down and end my turn."

**Turn 6 – Jaden**

"I can't let my partner outshine me here, so I better make this draw count!" Jaden declared, smirking as he saw which card he drew. "Nice! I play Spellbook Inside the Pot to let us all draw three cards!" he said as he, Lance, Chazz, and Noah did so. "And don't think I've forgotten Lord's effect! Because I activated a card, I can destroy one monster on the field, and I pick Infernoid Harmadik!" Lord of the Red shouted a loud battle cry as he fired yet another ball of flames at his enemy. The mechanical Fiend screeched in pain as it was annihilated.

"Next, I'll summon Elemental Hero Heat in attack mode!" the Kuriboh-head continued.

A monster that looked like a male version of Lady Heat, which he had used in his duel with Crowler, appeared on the field.

**Elemental Hero Heat – Fire/Pyro/Effect/LV4 – 1600 ATK/1200 DEF**

"And Heat has an effect! For every Elemental Hero on the Field, he gains an extra 200 attack points! And since there are two, Clayman and himself, he gains 400 attack points." he brown-haired boy continued.

**Elemental Hero Heat – 1600 ATK » 2000 ATK/1200 DEF**

Syrus cheered, "You got 'em now, Jay!"

"I'm not done yet! 'Cause now I'm activating the spell card, Fusion Substitute! With this card, I can summon one Fusion monster using monsters I control as the materials! So say goodbye to Elemental Hero Clayman, and Elemental Hero Heat, and say hello to... Elemental Hero Nova Master!" Jaden cried passionately, placing the Fusion monster on his Duel Disk.

A vortex of fire appeared in front of the Hero user and from it emerged a large monster in heavy red, orange, yellow, and black armor with a long red cape.

**Elemental Hero Nova Master – Fire/Warrior/Fusion/Effect/LV8 – 2600 ATK/2100 DEF**

"Now, Lord of the Red's effect activates again!" Jaden continued, causing Lance to smile. "Because I activated a spell card, I can destroy one spell or trap card on the field, and I'll pick the one Chazz just set."

Chazz growled audibly as his face-down, Chthonian Blast, was wiped from the field by Lord of the Red.

"Next, I'll attack Helpoemer with my Nova Master! Go! Nova Flare!" Jaden went on. Similar to Lord, Elemental Hero Nova Master gathered a large sphere of flames between its hands before it fired its attack at Helpoemer, who screeched as it was burned to cinders.

**Noah&amp;Chazz: 7400  
****Lance&amp;Jaden: 8000**

"First blood!" Lance cheered along with Syrus.

"And that's not all! See, when Nova Master destroys a monster by battle, I get to draw one card." Jaden disclosed as he drew a card.

"This is bad..." Noah muttered lowly.

"And it's about to get a whole lot worse!" Jaden said delightedly. "Now, Lord of the Red, attack Chazz directly!"

Lord of the Red let out a battle cry as it fired yet another sphere of flames at Chazz, who screamed as a good portion of his and Noah's life points were taken from them.

**Noah&amp;Chazz: 5000  
****Lance&amp;Jaden: 8000**

"Aw, yeah, way to play, Jay!" Syrus called out happily as Chazz and his lackeys growled. Jaden gave him a grin and the peace sign in response.

"Not so fast, Jaden!" Chazz cut in with a smirk. "See, that Helpoemer you sent to the graveyard had an interesting little effect. As long as it's in the graveyard, you have to discard one random card from your hand at the end of each of your battle phases." he said gleefully.

Jaden frowned as he was forced to discard A Hero Emerges, which he was going to set on the field originally. "Well, in that case, I'll throw down a face-down and end my turn there." he finished.

"Then it's my turn. Draw!" Noah began.

**Turn 7 – Noah**

"First, I'm going to activate my face down card, known as Eye of the Void! This card lets me Special Summon one Infernoid monster from my hand, ignoring its Summoning Conditions in return for negating its effects this turn. And since my monster isn't on the field yet, you can't activate Lord's effect since there's nothing on my field to destroy." he said, causing Lance and Jaden to frown, knowing that was true. "Anyway, the monster I choose to summon is Infernoid Attondel in attack mode!" Noah declared, the massive mechanical monster appearing with an headache-inducing roar.

**Infernoid Attondel – Fire/Fiend/Effect/LV8 – 2800 ATK/0 DEF**

Syrus gulped while Jaden and Lance grimaced at seeing the powerful monster, knowing things were about to take a turn for the worse for them.

"Next, I'll banish Infernoid Harmadik from my graveyard and one Infernoid monster from my hand to Special Summon Infernoid Seitsemas from my hand in attack mode!" the black-haired boy continued, his creature appearing on the field with a loud shriek.

**Infernoid Seitsemas – Fire/Fiend/Effect/LV7 – 2600 ATK/0 DEF**

"Uh, oh..." Lance muttered with a nervous grin.

"Uh, oh is right, Lance. Now, Infernoid Seitsemas! Attack Lord of the Red! Wipe that nuisance out!" Noah ordered. Seitsemas launched its massive spear at the Dragon-man, aiming to annihilate it.

"Jaden!" Lance called out, causing the other boy's eyes to snap to him. "Activate my face-down!"

"Well, alright, then! I activate Lance's face-down card, which is...! What is it?" Jaden asked confusedly.

"Half or Nothing." Lance explained happily. "When this card is activated, you have two choices. Either you can end the battle phase immediately... or you can choose to halve the attack of all monsters you control. So, which will it be? Half? Or Nothing?"

"Not only that!" Jaden interrupted. "Lord's effect wasn't activated earlier, but since Half or Nothing was just activated, I can activate it now to destroy one monster on the field! Now, Lord of the Red! Destroy Infernoid Att-"

"Jaden!" Lance interrupted quickly.

The Hero user looked at the Dragon-user in confusion, "What is it, Lance?"

"Use Lord's effect to destroy Seitsemas." he said. At Jaden's continued confusion, he insisted, "Just trust me."

"Uh, alright, then. Okay! Lord of the Red! Destroy Infernoid Seitsemas!" he ordered.

Lord of the Red obliged, gathering its signature sphere of flames and launching it at Infernoid Seitsemas.

Noah smirked slightly, "Hmph, nice try, Lance, but I don't think so. From my hand, I activate the Quick-Play Spell, Void Seer! Thanks to this card, I can pick one of my Infernoid monsters and make it unaffected by my opponent's card effects this turn. And I, of course, pick Infernoid Seitsemas." the Infernoid Duelist explained. Lance frowned as Lord's effect failed to destroy Seitsemas. Jaden didn't bother activating Lord's other effect since neither Noah nor Chazz had any face-down cards on their field.

Jaden smiled, "Still, that didn't negate Lance's trap, so you still have to pick whether you want to halve your monsters' attacks or end the Battle Phase."

Lance laughed nervously, "Uh, Jaden..."

The other boy looked at the redhead, blinking in confusion at his nervousness, "What is it?"

"I think we might be a bit screwed here."

Jaden cocked his head, "What?"

"That's right." Noah cut in. "I pick half! But thanks to my Void Seer, Seitsemas' attack points stay as they are."

"Attondel's are still cut in half." Jaden countered as Lance continued to grimace.

**Infernoid Attondel – 2800 ATK » 1400 ATK/0 DEF**

"Maybe so, but that won't stop me from wiping out both of your monsters." Noah said triumphantly.

"What?" Syrus yelped from behind them while Alexis made a soft noise of surprise. Even Chazz looked confused.

Lance decided to elaborate on what Noah meant, "See, Seitsemas has an effect..."

"Infernoid Seitsemas! Continue your attack and destroy Lord of the Red!" Noah ordered loudly.

"When it attacks an opponent's monster, it can then banish one card on the field at the end of the Battle Phase.." the redhead explained grimly.

"What?" Jaden yelped.

"That's right!" Noah said as Seitsemas' spear impaled Lord of the Red, who groaned shortly before exploding into pixels.

**Noah&amp;Chazz: 5000  
****Lance&amp;Jaden: 7800**

"Now, Infernoid Seitsemas! Banish Elemental Hero Nova Master!"

Infernoid Seitsemas obliged, firing off a plume of purple fire at Nova Master, who cried out as it vanished into a void.

"Nova Master!" Jaden cried.

"Unfortunately, since I had to end my Battle Phase to use Seitsemas' effect, I can't attack you directly with Attondel, so I'll just end my turn by setting two cards!" Noah finished, emptying his hand as Attondel's attack points went back to normal.

"He sure turned that around quick." Syrus lamented.

"That's for sure." Alexis agreed, though she didn't sound upset about it. "Noah definitely deserves Obelisk."

The Infernoid Duelist directed a piercing gaze at Lance along with a small smirk. "It's your move, Lance."

Said boy smirked back confidently, "And this is where I turn it back in my favor! Draw!"

**Turn 8 – Lance**

"To begin with, just so I don't have to deal with any surprises, I'll activate the spell card, Heavy Storm! As you all probably know, this destroys all spell and trap cards on the field!" he explained as a gale-force wind blew through the arena, destroying both of Noah's face-downs, which turned out to be Hate Buster and Spiritual Fire Art – Kurenai, and causing the boy to grimace. Heavy Storm also destroyed Jaden's face-down, Mirror Gate.

"Sorry 'bout that, Jaden." he apologized.

Jaden shrugged it off, "Eh, no big deal. I couldn't have used it right now anyway."

"You may have destroyed my traps, but how will you get past my monsters?" Noah cut in.

Lance smiled wryly, turning hi attention back to the Obelisk, "Well, I won't be able to destroy both, but I'll take care of Seitsemas this turn!"

"Oh?"

"That's right! Now, because you control a monster and I don't, I can Special Summon Vice Dragon from my hand!" he began as a large, ugly purple dragon appeared on the field in attack mode. "However, because I summoned him this way, his attack and defense points are cut in half."

**Vice Dragon – Dark/Dragon/Effect/LV5 – 2000 ATK » 1000 ATK/2400 DEF » 1200 DEF**

"And what's a weak monster like that going to do?" Chazz taunted smugly.

Lance smirked, "Well, he may be weak, but he'll certainly give my next monster more power! Because he was a Special Summon, I can summon again this turn! So, I'll sacrifice Vice Dragon to summon the more powerful... Strong Wind Dragon!" he cried passionately.

A large, bluish-green muscly dragon exploded onto the field, roaring at the two Infernoid monsters angrily.

**Strong Wind Dragon – Wind/Dragon/Effect/LV6 – 2400 ATK/1000 DEF**

Chazz laughed derisively, "That monster may be more powerful, but it's still too weak to destroy either of the Infernoids!"

"He's right. Why would Lance summon a weaker monster?" Syrus wondered.

Noah narrowed his eyes.

Lance smiled, "That's easy! See, Strong Wind Dragon has a pretty neat effect. If he's summoned to the field by sacrificing a Dragon-type monster... half of that monster's original attack points get added on to his! Vice Dragon had 2000 attack points, so that means Strong Wind Dragon gains an extra thousand point boost." he revealed grandly, grinning at their stunned faces.

"No way!" Chazz yelled angrily as a green aura surrounded Strong Wind Dragon, who roared with power as its attack points increased by a thousand.

**Strong Wind Dragon – 2400 ATK » 3400 ATK/1000 DEF**

"Now, Strong Wind Dragon! Destroy Infernoid Seitsemas! Strong Hurricane!" Lance ordered, grinning at the annoyed look on Noah's face.

Infernoid Seitsemas screeched in pain as gale force winds tore at its body until it was shredded to pieces and exploded into thousands of pixels.

"Grr, don't forget Helpoemer's effect." Chazz reminded him, Helpoemer's effect forcing him to discard a random card in his hand.

**Noah&amp;Chazz: 4200  
****Lance&amp;Jaden: 7800**

"And I'll end my turn with two face-downs." Lance said, emptying his hand.

Chazz glowered at him, "Then it's my mov-"

Alexis suddenly gasped, "Guys, we got company! Campus security! If they find us all in here, we'll get in serious trouble." she exclaimed quietly.

Lance turned to look at her incredulously, "What? Why? We're all students here, right?"

Alexis got an annoyed look on her face, "The rulebook states no off-hours Dueling." she said as she pulled out a copy of the rulebook. "Didn't you read it?"

Jaden looked surprised while Lance glanced back at Noah, "Did you know that?"

Noah shrugged, looking faintly embarrassed, "Who actually reads the rulebook?"

"Argh!" Lance growled, turning off his Duel Disk. "Well, I'm not getting in trouble my _first _day here." he said, making his way towards the exit.

"H-Hey, wait!" Jaden cried. "The Duel's not over yet!"

"I'm afraid it is, Jaden." Noah said as he walked briskly past him, following Lance. "Perhaps we'll get to finish it some other time."

"B-But!" Jaden stuttered, too stubborn to let a Duel end so inconclusively.

"You may have gotten lucky today, slacker, but this isn't over." Chazz glared as he headed towards the other exit with his two cronies.

"Come on Jaden. Let's go!" Lance heard Syrus beg the stubborn boy.

"Aw, man! And it was such a good Duel, too..." Jaden said sadly, but he relented to Syrus' begging.

* * *

All of them, except for Chazz, his posse, and Noah – who had already gone on ahead to the Blue Dorm after giving a short apology for almost getting Lance into trouble, unknowingly though it may have been – met up in front of the school building, Jaden still looking a bit petulant.

"You sure are stubborn, Jaden." Alexis commented with a hint of amusement.

"Only about my Dueling." he replied petulantly.

"I somehow doubt that." Lance said dryly, stretching a bit.

Alexis turned to him, "I don't think we've been introduced. I'm Alexis Rhodes." she said politely.

Lance nodded back at her, "Lance Drake." he replied before letting out a big yawn. He then turned and began walking back to his Dorm. "Well, I'm beat. See you guys later!"

"That was a great Duel even if we didn't get to finish it, Lance. You should come by the Red Dorm sometime so we can Duel or maybe just chill." Jaden called after him.

Lance waved back at them without turning around, "I might just do that." he called back sincerely.

As he walked back to his Dorm, he looked at the night sky, deep in thought, _'Well, I hope the rest of my time here will be that exciting. Hmph, and I was right. Noah is certainly someone to beat here. I have no doubt he had a way to beat my Strong Wind Dragon. Jaden, too. I can't wait until I can have a one-on-one match with both of them... Should be fun.'_

* * *

Tag Duels are a bit confusing for me, but I don't think I made a mistake. It's how they work in Tag Force 4 at least. The part I'm most worried about is when Noah didn't activate Eye of the Void when Chazz was attacked directly. I'm not sure if I could have done that then, though, so I didn't.

I _think _that's how Lord of the Red's effect works. That's how it seemed when I read the card effect, but I could be wrong. I won't change it if I am, but I could be wrong.

By the way, Red-Eyes Tracer Dragon is a real card. It was revealed on the 16th, I think, so it's pretty new. I don't know what its effect is, or its ATK/DEF points, but its real. And Konami has also decided to make Red-Eyes Spirit a real card, too, so that's cool.

I really did not like this chapter. I wanted them to tag Duel, but getting them to that point was painful and it seemed forced and awkward. But hopefully the Duel made up for that.

Also, I hope no one was bothered by the use of Graceful Charity. I know some people like to adhere to the ban-list, but I really don't pay any attention to it.

Another thing, I hope Lance didn't come off as an ass or anything because of his desire to be in Obelisk for the rooms. I mean, wouldn't we all want those awesome rooms? Chazz had a huge flat-screen TV and a king sized bed, for God's sake! Who _wouldn't _want that?

Until Next Time!


	3. Queen of Obelisk Blue

Wow! 18 reviews, 28 favorites, and 25 followers. To be honest, that's more than I expected for the entire story. I thought I'd be lucky to hit just ten favorites. It's pretty flattering, so thank you all.

**sUbSoNiCSoundwave: **Let's hope. Well, in canon, I'm going to progressively reveal more and more of his monsters, so you probably won't see Black Dragon Archfiend for a while. Thanks for the review.

**Shane Kor: **Thank you. And thanks for the review.

**ShadowlordZane: **Yes. Thank you for the review.

**EndlessNight025:** Again, thanks for pointing that. That's a relief. I was worried some people might not like that. Yeah. I mean, I saw Chazz's room, and who wouldn't want that? Thank you for the review.

**Above the Winter Moonlight: **I'm glad you did. I thought it was kind of awkward. That's good to hear. Yeah, I was kind of tired of every OC not wanting to be in Obelisk. Who wouldn't want all that fancy crap? Thank you for the review

**SuperNeos2: **I guess I just assumed it was free, which, now that I think about it, was kind of stupid of me. Thank you for the review.

**sandshrew master: **Not in this story, but I will in Season 2. It will only be temporary, though. Thank you for the review.

**loki0191: **Neither do I. A big, nice bed, a large TV, a private bathroom. Honestly, who wouldn't want that. The new Red-Eyes monsters are really the whole reason I started this story. I'll try not to. Yeah, I'm not a fan of fan-made cards. Sometimes they're really cool, and sometimes they're necessary, but other times, they're just... Anyway, thank you for the reviews.

**Guest: **I'll try to be faster in the future, but, well, don't hold me to that. Thank you for the review.

Before I begin, you should probably all know that I've sort of completely changed Alexis' Deck. I have nothing against her canon Deck, I just don't think it's enough what with the life point boost and how few monsters she has, so I gave her a different archetype. One that I hope you guys will like.

* * *

"Duel Monster cards can be grouped into Normal Monster cards, Fusion Monster cards, Ritual Monster cards, Effect Monster cards, Trap cards, and Spell cards. Trap cards can be divided into Normal Traps, Counter Traps, and Continuous Traps. Spell cards can be separated into Normal Spells, Continuous Spells, Equip Spells, Quick-Play Spells, Ritual Spells, and Field Spells." Alexis Rhodes said, succinctly and without having to pause to think about it even once.

Dr. Crowler clapped his hands together and smiled, "Perfect! Well done, Alexis! Of course, I wouldn't expect anything less from one of my Obelisks." he said pompously.

_Oh, god, I'm so bored. _A certain redhead thought to himself, his glazed over eyes staring off into space. _I know it's only the first day, but honestly, anyone who duels knows all the categories of monster, spell, and trap cards. Otherwise, they wouldn't be here!_

"It's just the basics." Alexis said modestly.

"Hm. Now who should we question next?" Crowler muttered to himself, his face turning into a mixture of disdain and slight glee as his gaze turned to the Slifer Red students. "You! Syrus Truesdale."

"Uh!" Syrus yelped, standing up.

Crowler smirked unpleasantly, "Explain to the class what a field Spell is."

Lance rolled his eyes, _What a simple question. _he thought to himself, only for his gaze to turn incredulous as Syrus stuttered and failed to provide an answer. _How do you not know what a field Spell is? I mean, yeah, they're not exactly as common as the other types of Spell cards, but they're not _that _rare. _Lance scratched his chin. _Maybe he's just nervous?He does seem to have a lot of confidence issues..._

The redhead turned his eyes back to Crowler and frowned, _Hmph. I'd bet my Red-Eyes – well not really – that Crowler only picked him because he knew he didn't know the answer. What a pompous ass._

"Even little kids know the answer to this one, ya Slifer Slacker!" one of Chazz's lackeys called out derisively, causing a bunch of Obelisk and Ra students to burst out laughing.

"No! I know this! It's, uh..." Syrus trailed off, getting more and more embarrassed by the second.

Lance hummed, _I think he really is just too nervous. _He swept his eyes over all the laughing students, his gaze becoming disdainful. _Idiots._

Jaden turned to his smaller friend, smiling encouragingly, "Relax, Sy. You totally got this."

"I think not. Sit down." Crowler said smugly, the blue-haired boy sitting down and lowering his head in shame. "Now, would someone please give me the _actual _answer. Preferably somebody not wearing red, if you please." he muttered haughtily, causing more students to laugh.

Lance sneered, _Asshole._

"I blew it." Syrus muttered in shame. "I made all the Slifers look bad."

Jaden seemed to take offense at Crowler's comment, "You know something, teach? You really shouldn't go and make fun of us Slifers like that." he began, his usual smile still on his face.

Crowler blinked, "Hrm?"

"I mean, I'm a Slifer and I beat you. So, when you make fun of us, you're really making fun of yourself." he continued happily, scratching his head.

Crowler sputtered and his face turned purple with anger as Jaden gave the peace sign to the smiling Slifers around him.

Lance smirked, _How does it feel to be embarrassed in front of so many people? Not fun, is it? _Honestly, Lance had no respect for Crowler's imperious attitude, and his picking on Slifers. He could already tell this would be a regular thing, and honestly, a Professor should be more professional than this. He supposed Crowler could turn out to be the best teacher of dueling in the world and his classes would be fun and riveting, but somehow, he doubted that.

_That's it! I will not tolerate this slacker at my school for another second. _Crowler thought angrily, biting his handkerchief. _I'll see to it that he's taken down!_

* * *

"How dare that Slifer Slacker, Jaden, make a mockery of me in front of my class like that!" Crowler raged quietly in his office, writing something on a piece of paper. "It'll be the last mistake he makes at _this _Academy."

Crowler folded up the paper and put it into an envelope. He then put on some red lipstick – that he had on-hand already for some reason – and sealed it with a kiss.

"Ah! The big kiss-off!" he voiced, cackling loudly.

Later on, Crowler snuck into the boy's locker room during P.E. and quickly found Jaden's locker, setting the letter on his shoes with an ugly grin.

* * *

Lance was standing with the other boys in the gym, waiting for their P.E. instructor. He looked down at his clothes, idly wondering why the gym uniform was a semi-thick, long-sleeved jacket, and a pair of equally thick pants, instead of just a T-Shirt and a pair of shorts. Seems like they'd all overheat pretty quickly in these uniforms, but, whatever, he didn't make the rules.

"I wonder where Syrus is." the redhead heard Jaden mutter from somewhere in front of him.

Soon, the woman that Lance recognized as the one that had greeted his group when he had arrived at Duel Academy stood in front of the assembled boys, wearing a female version of the boys' uniform.

"Hi everyone!" she greeted cheerfully. "My name is Fonda Fontaine, and I'll be your gym instructor for this semester. You ready to sweat?"

Lance raised an eyebrow, "That won't take long in these uniforms."

Fontaine turned to him, smiling, "And what's your name?"

"Uh, Lance, Professor."

Fontaine clapped her hands together, "Well, Lance, thank you for volunteering for our first activity!"

Lance blinked before slumping his shoulders as the boys around him snickered, "Ah, crap."

* * *

Meanwhile, Syrus rushed into the boys locker room, "Lousy girls' gym! They should make the sign bigger!" he lamented, hopping on one foot to take his shoe off.

He opened his locker, and crouched down, "These are Jaden's. I guess he's still borrowing my locker." he murmured, grabbing his friend's shoes and pulling them out, causing a letter to fall from its place atop them.

Syrus blinked, picked it up, gasping as he noticed the kiss mark on it, "C-Could this be...?" The blue-haired boy glanced around swiftly before going to stand between some lockers for more privacy, even though there was no one else in the locker room.

He opened the letter, reading it aloud, "Since the moment I've laid eyes of you, I've been... _in love with you?_" he yelped incredulously. "Meet me tonight behind the girls' dorm. Love, Alexis Rhodes?!" he shouted, so shocked that he stumbled back and fell on his butt. "I-I got a love letter from Alexis Rhodes!" he muttered dumbfounded, imagining him and Alexis in love together, which caused a goofy grin to grow on his face. "Oh, I'm yours."

* * *

Later that night, Lance lay in his bed, lost in thought as he stared at the ceiling. _Aw, man, I didn't get to Duel today at all. Bummer._

"Lance." a voice called out, cutting through the pleasant silence.

Said boy jerked up, grasping at his chest before turning to the one who spoke, "Jeez, are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

Standing in his room, transparent but with an ethereal glow around him, was Lord of the Red.

"What is it?" Lance asked, glaring at Lord.

Lord pursed his lips, "..."

The redhead's glare softened and gradually went away when he saw how troubled Lord looked, "What's wrong?"

The Duel Monster spirit was silent for a moment before speaking, "...There is something on this island that troubles me. It feels... dark. Evil. And very powerful." he said lowly.

Lance's eyes widened. Lord had never come to him like this before. "Where?"

"I am not sure of the exact location. Its presence pervades the entire island." the Dragon-man said.

"...Should I start panicking?" Lance grinned, only half-joking.

Lord smiled slightly, shaking his head, "It is dormant for now. Sealed away, I think."

Lance relaxed, plopping back down onto his bed, "So, it's not really anything to worry about, then?"

Lord hesitated, "I supposed for now, you shouldn't worry about it. It was just something I thought I should tell you." he answered slowly.

"That's a relief. Hopefully, it's nothing." Lance said, resting his arms behind his head. He really didn't want his first year at Duel Academy to be interrupted by anything odd or... supernatural. "Anything else?"

Lord thought for a moment, "Yes, actually. Black Dragon Archfiend would like to know when you're going to use him next. He's getting impatient."

Lance's response was deadpan, "Tell him I will use him when he stops trying to fry my opponents."

"I'll be sure to let him know." Lord smiled, obviously amused, before vanishing.

Lance sighed, "I really hope nothing crazy happens this year."

* * *

Meanwhile, behind the Obelisk Blue Girls' bathhouse, Crowler, clad in an unfortunately tight black bodysuit was sneaking from bush to bush.

He cackled quietly, "This is just behind the Girls' Dorm's bathhouse! Thanks to that faux love letter I wrote, that dropout boy will show up here looking for Alexis, but all he'll find is trouble instead. Once he arrives, I'll snap a picture of him. That will be irrefutable proof of a perverted little boy peeping into the ladies' baths, and then he'll be expelled! Farewell, Jaden." he laughed.

Meanwhile, inside the bathhouse:

"It looks like none of the boys who enrolled this year are any good." one of the girls, Jasmine, said. "Especially that Jaden kid. Can you believe what he said to Dr. Crowler? He's got some nerve talking to a professor like that. Total disrespect! Right, Alexis?"

Alexis was smiling as she rubbed her face with a warm, damp towel, "Actually, I thought it was kind of cool." she said before abruptly turning around with a slight scowl on her face.

Jasmine looked shocked, "What?! Him? Cool?!"

The girl next to her looked over, "He could be. If he had the talent to back up that talk maybe." she said snidely.

_I think he just might._ Alexis thought to herself. _Still, I won't know until I Duel him myself._

Crowler poked his head out of the bushes, humming to himself and looking around before he ducked back into the bushes when he heard footsteps nearby, grinning nastily as he caught sight of somebody.

"Come, Jaden! Right into my trap like the dropout boy you are!" he whispered to himself gleefully.

"Should be around here..." the boy muttered to himself, smiling. To Crowler's shock, however, the boy wasn't Jaden, but Syrus, instead.

The Professor shot out the bushes, "What is this? Why is that stammering nitwit here?" he exclaimed loudly.

A girl gasped, "Who's there?" she looked around before catching sight of him. "A peeper!" she yelled, causing the few girls nearby to catch sight of him as well.

"Pervert!"

"Oh, no!" he said, covering his face. "If this keeps up, I could be fired!" he said before turning around and running away, only to slip and fall into the lake with a splash.

Unfortunately for the clueless Syrus, he was soon surrounded and restrained by at least a dozen girls, "Ow, ow! What's the...!"

Mindy and Jasmine stood in front of him, clad in only towels and scowling down at him, "No place left for you to run, perv!" Jasmine said harshly as the small boy looked up at them.

"A love letter from Alexis?! You've got to be kidding!" Mindy said, obviously very amused by even the idea that Alexis would send a love letter to someone like Syrus.

Even though his hands were tied together, Syrus smiled and winked, "That's right! Ask her."

Jasmine scoffed, "What an idiot. There's no way that Alexis, the Queen of Obelisk Blue, would write a love letter to a Slifer Red like you!"

"But it's true! It said 'I'll wait for you behind the girls dorm.' I even have it right here." the blue-haired boy said defiantly, pulling it out of his pocket.

Jasmine snatched it from him, pulling out the letter from the envelope and unfolding it. Alexis and Mindy both leaned closer to read it with her, the former almost instantly scowling.

"I wouldn't write such idiotic words." Alexis said in annoyance.

"Sorry, Syrus, but I think someone is yanking your chain here." Mindy said smugly.

Syrus furrowed his brow, "H-Huh? Who would do that...?"

"Hey, this is addressed to Jaden Yuki." Jasmine spoke.

"Jaden? No way." Syrus said in disbelief.

Jasmine frowned and turned the letter towards him, where he could clearly see Jaden's name, "Yes way."

"I can't believe you were lured by some fake love letter and came here without even thinking about the consequences." Jasmine said derisively.

"C-Consequences?" Syrus squeaked, confused.

Jasmine rolled her eyes, "Peeping in the girls' bathhouse gets you automatically expelled."

Syrus paled, "N-No way!"

Jasmine turned to her friends, "Let's report this to the Academy."

"But I didn't peek! I swear." Syrus shouted, panicked.

"Girls! Just what is going on down there?" the voice of Fonda Fontaine called from above them.

"Down!" Alexis whispered to her friends before all Mindy and Jasmine practically sat on Syrus to hide him from view while Alexis stood in front of him to block Fontaine's view of him.

"Alright, what's going on?" Fontaine asked sternly.

Syrus was twitching underneath them, "You guys are heavy." he grunted pathetically.

"I beg your pardon?" Jasmine whispered angrily, glaring down at him.

"Just keep quiet." Mindy said sharply.

"Sorry, Ms. Fontaine. We'll be sure to be more quiet." Alexis said apologetically.

"I should hope so! It's nearly midnight." Fontaine replied snappishly, before turning to leave.

As soon as she was out of sight, Mindy and Jasmine got off of Syrus and turned to Alexis. "So what now?" the former asked.

"I'll tell you what now, girls. I have a little plan in mind. Someone intended on luring Jaden Yuki here using my name to set him up as a pervert, probably to have him expelled. Isn't that interesting?" Alexis said, smirking. "I say we use Syrus here as bait to find out what we were wondering about before. Just how good Jaden really is, and I think I know just how we can get him to show us his best."

* * *

Jaden was currently playing some sort of video game on a hand-held system when his PDA rang, indicating he had a new message. He picked it up and the message began to play. Oddly, there was no video, and the voice was extremely distorted.

"We have your roommate, Syrus." the voice said. "If you want him back, come to the girls' dorm now. Alone."

Jaden sighed, "Oh, Syrus."

* * *

In the lake, near the girls' dorm, Crowler poked his head out of the water, scowling, "You try to expel _one _kid and the entire world turns against you." he muttered, annoyed. The sound of something hitting the water caused him to turn and spot Jaden rowing a boat, evidently headed towards the girls' dorm.

"You're a little late." Crowler snarked.

* * *

As soon as Jaden arrived at the girls' dorm, he immediately spotted Syrus, with his hands bound, surrounded by three girls.

"Hi, Jaden." Syrus said in a defeated tone of voice.

"Hey, Sy. So, what exactly is going on here?" Jaden asked.

Syrus sighed, "Well, to make a long story short, I'm basically a big loser."

"You're friend was peeping into the girls' bathhouse." Jasmine spoke up.

Jaden blinked in surprise, "Is that true, Sy?"

"I said I didn't peep!" Syrus shouted.

"If the Academy finds out about this, he'll definitely get expelled." Mindy said, looking at Jaden with a smirk, "And now that you're here, Jaden, you'll be lumped in with him, and get the same punishment."

Alexis turned to Jaden, "That's right. So, if you don't want us to turn you in for this whole 'peeping incident', then you're going to have to win your freedom by beating me in a Duel right now." she declared, smirking confidently.

"But I'm telling you, I didn't peep!" Syrus insisted.

"Don't worry, Sy. I won't let that happen." Jaden said confidently, punching his fist into the palm of his other hand. "Now, let's Duel!"

* * *

"I hope you know what you're doing, Jaden." Syrus said anxiously, sitting on a small boat. Jaden was standing up in front of him, his Duel Disk at the ready. Opposite of their boat was Alexis, Mindy, and Jasmine, the former also with her Duel Disk at the ready.

Unbeknownst to any of them, Dr. Crowler was floating gently in the water nearby, "Well, well, well. A Slifer versus an Obelisk. Put him in his place, Alexis!"

"Well, Jaden, you'll be the first person I face with my new Deck!" Alexis declared. "Here I go!"

"I'm honored." Jaden smiled, both of them drawing five cards. "Bring it!"

"DUEL!"

**Alexis: 8000  
****Jaden: 8000**

Jaden smirked, "Get your game on, Alexis!"

"I'll go first! Draw!" Alexis announced.

**Turn 1 – Alexis**

She considered her hand for a moment before making her move. "I'll set one monster in defense mode, and end my turn with two face down cards."

**Turn 2 – Jaden**

"Time to throw down!" Jaden declared, drawing a card.

"First, I'll summon Elemental Hero Sparkman in attack mode!"

Arcs of lightning gathered on Jaden's side of the field as a man in blue and yellow armor appeared with a battle cry.

**Elemental Hero Sparkman – Light/Warrior/Normal/LV4 – 1600 ATK/1400 DEF**

Jaden thrust his arm out, "Next, I'll attack your face down monster with Sparkman! Static Shockwave!"

Sparkman thrust his hand forward, sending several arcs of lightning towards Alexis' face down monster, which flipped face up in response, revealing it to be a dark purple, mechanical looking hedgehog, which was apparently held up by several luminescent purple strings.

**Shaddoll Hedgehog – Dark/Spellcaster/Flip/Effect/LV3 – 800 ATK/200 DEF**

The small hedgehog gave a high-pitched cry as Sparkman's lightning obliterated it.

Alexis smirked, "When Shaddoll Hedgehog is flipped face up, I can add one Shaddoll Spell or Trap card from my Deck to my hand." she informed him, taking a card from her Deck. "And I pick Shaddoll Fusion!"

Jaden frowned, "I'll throw down a face down and end my turn."

**Turn 3 – Alexis**

"My turn. Draw! Now, I activate the Spell Card, Shaddoll Fusion!" she declared, holding up the card for Jaden to see. "I combine Shaddoll Beast and Armageddon Knight in my hand to Fusion Summon... _El Shaddoll Winda!_"

Shaddoll Beast and Armageddon Knight appeared on the field briefly, surrounded by an orange and purple vortex. The vortex sucked the two monsters in, fusing the two together to produce Alexis new monster.

A doll-like woman with green hair an purple clothes appeared on the field, holding a long staff and riding on what appeared to be a purple, mechanical-looking dragon, which also seemed to be manipulated by the same luminescent purple strings that Shaddoll Hedgehog was.

**El Shaddoll Winda – Dark/Spellcaster/Fusion/Effect/LV5 – 2200 ATK/800 DEF**

"That's not all!" Alexis declared, thrusting her arm out with a smirk. "When Shaddoll Beast is sent to the graveyard as a result of a card effect, I get to draw one card." she explained, and her smirk widened when she saw what it was. "And I think I'll activate the card I just drew, the Equip Spell known as Fusion Weapon! This card can only be equipped to a Level 6 or lower Fusion type monster, but that monster gains 1500 attack and defense points!"

Winda's staff and part of its right arm was replaced by a small trident that sparked with electricity.

**El Shaddoll Winda – 2200 ATK » 3700 ATK/800 DEF » 2300 DEF**

"3-3700 attack points?" Syrus squeaked.

"Uh oh..." Jaden muttered, grimacing.

Alexis smirked again, "Uh-oh is right, Jaden, because now I attack your Elemental Hero Sparkman with El Shaddoll Winda! Go! Trident Shock!"

Winda pointed its trident arm at Sparkman and let loose several arcs of lightning, aiming to obliterate its enemy.

"I activate my Trap Card, Invincible Hero!" Jaden cried out. "Thanks to this card, my monster can't be destroyed by battle this turn."

"That may be so, but you still take damage!" Alexis retorted.

As the arcs of lightning reached the Hero, he crossed his arms, barely standing up to the attack. However, the lightning continued on towards Jaden, who cried out as it took a good chunk of his life points with it.

**Alexis: 8000  
****Jaden: 5900**

Mindy and Jasmine cheered, "Way to go, Alexis. I knew this kid beating Dr. Crowler was just luck." the latter said smugly.

Nearby, said man grinned widely, _That's right, Alexis. Crush him!_

Jaden grunted, "Well, I'll be happy to prove you wrong."

"We'll see about that." Alexis said with a smile. "Anyway, I think I'll end my turn with that."

**Turn 4 – Jaden**

"Then it's my move. Draw!" Jaden announced, smiling when he saw what card he drew. "I activate the Spell Card, Polymerization! So, I'll fuse Elemental Hero Sparkman on my field with Elemental Hero Clayman in my hand to Fusion Summon... _Elemental Hero Thunder Giant!_"

Elemental Hero Clayman appeared on the field, and both him and Sparkman were quickly sucked into a purple and orange vortex. Rumbling clouds appeared overhead, bolts of lightning striking all around the field before one struck down in front of Jaden, revealing a massive man outfitted in gold and blue armor.

**Elemental Hero Thunder Giant – Light/Warrior/Fusion/Effect/LV6 – 2400 ATK/1500 DEF**

Jaden smiled, "Thunder Giant has a special effect, too. When he's summoned, I can destroy one monster on the field whose original attack points are less than his!" he revealed.

Alexis blinked, "Original attack points?"

The Kuriboh-head's smiled turned into a smirk, "That's right. Thunder Giant's attack points are 2400, and Winda's original attack points are only 2200, so your monster will be destroyed! Go, Thunder Giant! Static Blast!"

Elemental Hero Thunder Giant gave a cry as lightning erupted between its palms before it hurled the lightning at Winda like a javelin, causing a large explosion on contact.

Mindy gasped, "Oh no!"

"I can't believe this!" Jasmine cursed.

Syrus cheered, "Way to play, Jay!"

Jaden grinned and gave him the peace sign before turning back to his opponent, "So, how was that, Alexis?"

"Not enough."

Jaden blinked, "Huh?"

When the smoke cleared, staring ahead blankly without any sign of being attacked at all was El Shaddoll Winda.

"But how!?" Syrus yelped as Mindy and Jasmine cheered. Jaden looked at Alexis for an explanation.

She smirked, "You see, Jaden, El Shaddoll Winda cannot be destroyed by my opponent's card effects. If you want to defeat her, you're just going to have to summon a monster with more than 3700 attack points. Nice try, though."

Jaden grimaced, growling lowly.

"B-but how is he supposed to summon a monster that powerful?" Syrus stuttered.

"That's just it..." Mindy began, smirking smugly.

"He's not!" Jasmine finished.

"Don't worry, Syrus. It's not over yet." Jaden assured the other boy. "I'll place one card face down and end my turn."

**Turn 5 – Alexis**

"My turn, draw! Now, El Shaddoll Winda, destroy Elemental Hero Thunder Giant! Trident Shock!" she ordered without even looking at the card she drew.

As the arcs of lightning Winda fired at Thunder Giant reached him, Jaden acted, "I activate my face down card, a Quick-Play Spell known as De-Fusion! With this card, I can send one Fusion monster on my field back to my Extra Deck and Special Summon both monsters used for its Fusion from my graveyard to my field! So, I'll send Thunder Giant back to my Extra Deck to summon Elemental Hero Sparkman and Elemental Hero Clayman to my field, both in defense mode!"

Elemental Hero Thunder Giant disappeared, replaced my both Elemental Hero Sparkman and Elemental Hero Clayman, both of whom crossed their arms and knelt.

**Elemental Hero Sparkman – Light/Warrior/Normal/LV4 – 1600 ATK/1400 DEF**

**Elemental Hero Clayman – Earth/Warrior/Normal/LV4 – 800 ATK/2000 DEF**

"Fine then. I'll just attack Sparkman with Winda instead!" Alexis retorted, the arcs of lightning shifting to hit Sparkman. "And that's not all! I activate my Trap, Meteorain! This turn, my monsters can inflict piercing damage!" she revealed.

"What!?" Jaden yelped as his monster was annihilated by several arcs of electricity. Jaden cried out as the lightning continued on to take out a hefty portion of his life points.

**Alexis: 8000  
****Jaden: 3600**

Alexis crossed her arms, "I have to say, I'm kind of disappointed. I expected a better Duel out of you, but I guess you defeating Dr. Crowler was just luck." she said, frowning.

Jasmine shrugged, smiling condescendingly, "Well, what can you expect when a low-life Slifer Slacker challenges an Obelisk Blue?"

This comment actually riled Syrus up, "Hey, you take that back! Jaden's a great Duelist!"

"It sure doesn't look like it from where I'm sitting." Mindy said meanly.

Syrus was about to retort, but a chuckle from Jaden stopped him, "Oh, man, Alexis. You really are one tough Duelist!"

Alexis closed her eyes, smirking, "That's sweet. Too bad I have to crush you. I place one card face down and end my turn."

**Turn 6 – Jaden**

"Alright. Here goes something! Draw!" Jaden cried ardently. "Sweet! I play Spellbook Inside the Pot, which lets both of us draw three cards." he informed her, both of them drawing three cards. "Now, I'll activate the Field Spell, Fusion Gate! This cards allows both of us to Fusion Summon without Polymerization! Except the monsters used as material are banished instead of being sent to the graveyard. So now, I'll fuse Elemental Hero Clayman on my field with Elemental Hero Heat in my hand to Fusion Summon... _Elemental Hero Gaia!_"

A giant, lumbering creature in what appeared to be black, steel-plate armor erupted from the ground with a guttural roar.

**Elemental Hero Gaia – Earth/Warrior/Fusion/Effect/LV6 – 2200 ATK/600 DEF**

Alexis quirked an eyebrow, "And what's that weak monster going to do?"

Jaden smirked confidently, "Don't worry, he won't be weak for long, 'cause now I activate his effect! When he's summoned, I choose a monster on your side of the field and its attack points are cut in half and those points are added to Gaia!"

"What?" the Queen of Obelisk Blue gasped.

"And of course I'm going to pick the only one I can, El Shaddoll Winda!" Jaden declared, clenching his fist in let out a groan as its attack points were drained from it.

**El Shaddoll Winda – 3700 ATK » 1850 ATK**

**Elemental Hero Gaia – 2200 ATK » 4050 ATK**

"Now, I attack El Shaddoll Winda with Elemental Hero Gaia! Continental Hammer!" Jaden ordered. Gaia lumbered over to the much smaller Winda, who only stared at the giant creature with no emotion, and raised its massive arm. But before it could complete its attack, Jaden spoke up again. "But I'm not done! Now, I activate the Quick-Play Spell, Battle Fusion! With this card, until the end of the Damage Step, if a Fusion Monster of mine attacks an opponent's monster, my monster gains attack points equal to the monster it's attacking, which is 1850!"

**Elemental Hero Gaia – ****4050 ATK » 5900 ATK**

Syrus cheered, "Alright, Jaden!"

Alexis cursed as her monster was obliterated, the shockwave from the attack almost enough to knock over her boat, and also causing her to cry out loudly as she lost over half of her life points in one hit.

**Alexis: 3950  
****Jaden: 3600**

"How was that, Alexis?" Jaden smiled as Battle Fusion's effect ended and Gaia's attack points went down.

**Elemental Hero Gaia – 5900 ATK » 4050 ATK**

Alexis chuckled slightly as she straightened up, looking back at the Slifer Red with a smirk, "_That_... was more like it. However, when El Shaddoll Winda is sent to the graveyard, I can add one Shaddoll Spell or Trap card from my graveyard to my hand, and I pick Shaddoll Fusion!"

"Wow... That card's never gone for long, huh?" Jaden mused.

Alexis smirked again, "Nope. That's the way it works."

"Well, I'll throw down two face downs and end my turn. And since my turn ends, Gaia's attack points go back to normal."

**Elemental Hero Gaia – 4050 ATK » 2200 ATK**

**Turn 7 – Alexis**

"My turn! Draw! I play Dark World Dealings! With this card, we both draw one card and then discard one card." she explained. Since Jaden had no cards in his hand, he simply discarded the one he drew. "The monster I discarded was Shaddoll Dragon, and when it's sent to the graveyard as the result of a card effect, I can pick one Spell or Trap Card on the field and destroy it! And I choose the face down card on the left."

The card she picked flipped up, revealing itself to be Mirror Force, and Jaden grimaced as it shattered into a thousand pixels.

"Mirror Force, huh? That could have been troublesome." Alexis commented, smiling. "Now, I activate Shaddoll Fusion! You already know what this card does, but what you don't know is that if my opponent controls a monster that was Special Summoned from the Extra Deck, I can fuse monsters from my Deck instead of my hand or field!" she revealed, thrusting her arm out grandly.

Jaden's eyes widened, "Fusing from the Deck?!"

"That's right!" the Queen confirmed. "So, I'll fuse Tribe-Infecting Virus and another copy of Shaddoll Dragon in my Deck to Fusion Summon... _El Shaddoll Anoyatyllis!_"

Shaddoll Dragon and Tribe-Infecting Virus appeared on the field before they were sucked into an orange and purple vortex, which soon vanished to make way for Alexis' new monster. Which turned out to be doll-like woman surrounded by those same luminescent purple strings, humming as she settled.

**El Shaddoll Anoyatyllis – Water/Fiend/Fusion/Effect/LV9 – 2700 ATK/2000 DEF**

"And since Shaddoll Dragon was sent to the graveyard by a card effect, his effect activates, allowing me to destroy one Spell or Trap Card on the field, and I think I'll get rid of Fusion Gate before it can become more of a problem." Alexis announced and Jaden frowned as Fusion Gate was destroyed. "And since that's out of the way, El Shaddoll Anoyatyllis, attack! Wipe out Elemental Hero Gaia!"

Anoyatyllis hummed as she raised her arms above her head, launching dozens upon dozens of needles of water at Gaia.

"Not so fast!" Jaden interrupted. "I activate my Trap Card, Negate Attack! With this card, I can negate the attack of my opponent's monster and end the Battle Phase."

"Hm. So you save your monster this turn, but what now? You have no Spell or Trap Cards on the field, one monster weaker than my own, and an empty hand. Do you still think you can win like this?" she questioned him, silently ending her turn with a face down card.

Jasmine scoffed, "Of course not!"

Mindy agreed, smiling, "There's no way he could turn this around now!"

Nearby, Dr. Crowler was nearly vibrating with glee, _Oh, this is wonderful! Alexis will show that Slifer Slacker his place, and soon he'll be out of my hair forever! Hahahaha!_

**Turn 8 – Jaden**

Syrus slumped down in the boat, depressed, "They're right..."

"Hey, Sy, don't lose faith so quickly. It's not over until the last card is played! My move, draw!" he took a look at the card in his hand and grinned widely, turning it around to show Alexis, "What was that you were saying about my hand being empty?"

Alexis took a look at the card, "Tsk."

The Kuriboh-head grinned cheekily, "I activate Card of Sanctity! With this, we both Draw until we have six cards in our hands! And it's just what I needed!"

Alexis narrowed her eyes, "What's that?"

"First, I'll summon Elemental Hero Wildheart in attack mode." Jaden began.

A heavily muscled, dark-skinned man with a giant sword strapped to his back appeared on the field with a battle cry.

**Elemental Hero Wildheart – Earth/Warrior/Effect/LV4 – 1500 ATK/1600 DEF**

Alexis narrowed her eyes, wondering why he'd summon a monster with such low attack points in this situation, especially since he put it in attack mode.

"I activate Polymerization! So, I'll fuse Elemental Hero Woodsman, and Elemental Hero Ocean in my hand to Fusion Summon... _Elemental Hero Terra Firma!_" Jaden continued fervently.

Woodsman and Ocean fused together to create a large man-like being with predominantly white armor, with some blue parts on its head and shoulders, and a red crystal-like object in its chest.

**Elemental Hero Terra Firma – Earth/Warrior/Fusion/Effect/LV8 – 2500 ATK/2000 DEF**

"That monster may be stronger than Gaia, but it still doesn't have enough attack points to defeat Anoyatyllis." Alexis pointed out.

Jaden smirked, "Not yet, maybe. But Terra Firma has a pretty sweet effect. You see, by sacrificing one Elemental Hero monster on the field, Terra Firma gains that monster's attack points until the end of my turn."

Alexis gasped, "What?!"

"So, I'll sacrifice Elemental Hero Wildheart and have Terra Firma gain its attack points!" the Slifer continued. Wildheart closed his eyes and gently dissipated, its essence flowing into Terra Firma.

**Elemental Hero Terra Firma – 2500 ATK » 4000 ATK**

"4000 attack points." Alexis muttered, gritting her teeth since she knew there was nothing she could do to prevent what was about to happen.

Jaden thrust his arm out, "Yep, but I'm not done yet!"

The blonde girl blinked, "What do you mean?"

Jaden smirked, "You see, Terra Firma's effect can be activated any number of times each turn, so I activate it once again!"

"No way!"

"Yes way! So now I'll sacrifice Elemental Hero Gaia to boost Terra Firma's attack points once again!" Jaden yelled out as Gaia dissipated in the same manner as Wildheart and its essence was absorbed by Terra Firma.

**Elemental Hero Terra Firma – 4000 ATK » 6200 ATK**

"6200 attack points." Jasmine gasped.

"Alexis!" Mindy cried out worriedly.

Alexis just gritted her teeth and braced for the impact.

Jaden thrust his arm out, "Now, Elemental Hero Terra Firma, attack! Terra Force!"

A massive sphere of orange energy appeared between Terra Firma's spread palms, and he grunted before throwing the sphere of burning energy at El Shaddoll Anoyatyllis with a loud battle cry. Anoyatyllis tried futilely to fend off the attack, and cried in pain as it was incinerated. Alexis grunted as her life points took another huge hit.

**Alexis: 450  
****Jaden: 3600**

"Oh, no..." Mindy and Jasmine muttered.

"Alright, Jay!" Syrus cheered jubilantly. "Now, we're home free!"

Jaden turned and grinned at Syrus, giving him the peace sign, "Yup!"

"Hey, now," Alexis interjected. "Wasn't it you who said the Duel isn't over until the last card is played? Don't count me out just yet. And by the way, since El Shaddoll Anoyatyllis was sent to the graveyard, I can pick one Shaddoll Spell or Trap Card and add it to my hand, and I pick Shaddoll Fusion!"

Syrus groaned, "That card is really wearing out its welcome."

"That's for sure." Jaden agreed as Alexis just smiled in amusement. "Anyway, I'll toss out a face down and end my turn, which means Terra Firma's attack points go back to normal."

**Elemental Hero Terra Firma – 6200 ATK » 2500 ATK**

**Turn 9 – Alexis**

"My turn, draw!" Alexis announced. _Hm... I could summon Construct, but... I'd rather deal some damage to him. And I have just the card to do it. _she thought to herself, smiling as she looked at the card she just drew, Battle Fusion. _Let's give him a taste of his own medicine!_

"I activate Shaddoll Fusion! By now, you know what this card does, so I'll just go ahead and fuse Shaddoll Beast in my hand with the Inari Fire in my deck to Fusion Summon... _El Shaddoll Grysta!_" she cried passionately.

Inari Fire appeared alongside Shaddoll Beast on the field before they were fused together. An explosion of fire erupted on the field, briefly lightning up the night sky, and from it appeared a creature clad in red, rock armor with what appeared to be two large winged made entirely of flames.

**El Shaddoll Grysta – Fire/Rock/Fusion/Effect/LV7 – 2450 ATK/1950 DEF**

Before Jaden could even comment on her monster, Alexis continued, "Since Shaddoll Beast was sent to the Graveyeard because of a Card Effect, I get to draw one card. Now, El Shaddoll Grysta, attack Elemental Hero Terra Firma. Burn that thing to ashes!"

Jaden blinked in confusion as Grysta rushed towards Terra Firma, who was preparing for the coming exchange, "But why would you do that? Terra Firma's attack is fifty points higher than Grysta's."

"Recognize this card?" Alexis asked rhetorically, smirking as she held up Battle Fusion. Jaden gasped. "That's right! I activate Battle Fusion. So now my Grysta gains attack points equal to your Terra Firma until the end of the Damage Step!"

"Alright, Alexis!" Mindy and Jasmine whooped in joy as Grysta's attack rose.

**El Shaddoll Grysta – 2450 ATK » 4950 ATK**

"Oh, no, Jaden!" Syrus whimpered.

Grysta cried out in triumph as its power increased exponentially, and Terra Firma cried out in pain as Grysta's flames engulfed and destroyed it. Jaden stumbled as the shockwave hit his boat, but he barely managed to keep his footing.

**Alexis: 450  
****Jaden: 1150**

"I'll play one card face down and end my turn there." Alexis announced.

**Turn 10 – Jaden**

"My turn, draw!" Jaden began.

_Go ahead and try to fuse again, Jaden. _Alexis thought to herself, smiling ever so slightly. _Grysta's effect will destroy whichever monster you try to bring out, and you'll be left wide open._

"I summon Elemental Hero Bladedge in attack mode!" the brunette Slifer declared.

A man either made of pure gold, or simply covered in gold-plate armor appeared on Jaden's field, staring intently at Grysta with its shining green eyes.

**Elemental Hero Bladedge – Earth/Warrior/Effect/LV7 – 2600 ATK/1800 DEF**

"Hey, what gives!" Jasmine yelled out indignantly. "That monster is Level 7! You need to tribute two monsters to summon that!"

Mindy nodded in agreement, "Are you so panicked about your impending expulsion that you forgot that little rule?"

Jaden smirked, "I didn't forget anything. See, once, while Elemental Hero Necroshade is in my graveyard, I can Normal Summon one Level 5 or higher Elemental Hero monster without tributing!" he revealed.

The blonde Queen of Obelisk Blue narrowed her eyes as Mindy and Jasmine cried out in disbelief, and Syrus cheered, "But how did you get Necroshade into your graveyard." she demanded. "I didn't send it there."

"Actually, you did. Necroshade was the card I drew and discarded with Dark World Dealings." he retorted, smiling slyly.

_I see. And Bladedge has more attack points than Grysta, so this round will go to him. But... _Alexis smirked, looking down at her hand, _On my next turn, all he'll have left is Bladedge, and with only one card in his hand, and only one face down card – which I'll be sure to get rid of first thing – I'll win._

"Now," Jaden continued. "I activate my Trap Card, Edge Hammer!"

Alexis' eyes widened, "What?!"

Jaden smiled, "I can only activate this card when Elemental Hero Bladedge is on the field. Now, by sacrificing him, I can destroy one monster on my opponent's side of the field, and you take damage equal to that monster's attack points! How sweet is that?"

Bladedge pulled back his arm, his newly acquired hammer clenched tightly in its fist. Suddenly, it shifted its weight and hurled the hammer with all the force it could muster, its body disintegrating as a result of this.

The high-speed hammer made contact and immediately obliterated El Shaddoll Grysta in a large, fiery explosion before continuing on towards Alexis, poised to take the last of her life points.

She smirked.

"I activate my Trap Card, Pikeru's Circle of Enchantment!" Alexis called out, a small girl in white appearing in front of her and erecting a magical barrier around her.

"What's that?" Jaden questioned curiously.

Alexis' smirk widened, "With this, Jaden, any effect damage I would take this turn is reduced to zero." she revealed as Edge Hammer bounced harmlessly off of the magical barrier.

**Alexis: 450  
****Jaden: 1150**

Alexis shook her head, "I hope you haven't unpacked your bags already, Jaden. You have nothing on your field and only one card in your hand. You can't possibly win." she said confidently as Syrus become even more depressed. "And just like the others, since El Shaddoll Grysta was sent to the graveyard, I can add one Shaddoll Spell or Trap to my hand, and of course I'm going to pick Shaddoll Fusion once again!"

Jaden disregarded that last part, "I may only have one card in my hand... but that's the only card I need! Now, I activate Monster Reborn. We all know what this card does, and I'm using it to bring back someone you might remember. Return to the field, Elemental Hero Bladedge!" Jaden cried out fervidly, clenching his hand into a fist as Bladedge returned to the field with a cry of triumph.

**Elemental Hero Bladedge – Earth/Warrior/Effect/LV7 – 2600 ATK/1800 DEF**

Jaden thrust his arm out, smiling widely, "Battle! Elemental Hero Bladedge, attack her directly and finish what you started. Power Edge Attack!"

Bladedge let out a fierce battle cry and rushed towards Alexis, intent on wiping away the last of her life points with the razor sharp blades protruding from his elbows.

"Alright!" Syrus cheered.

"Oh no!" Mindy cried.

"She's defenseless!" Jasmine added concerned.

Alexis thrust her arm out, "Not quite! I activate my Trap Card, Shaddoll Core!" she announced, finally activating the face down card she had set on the field so many turns ago.

"What's that?" Jaden frowned.

Alexis smirked, "This is a special kind of Trap Card, Jaden. When this card is activated, I can Special Summon it as an Effect Monster. I wanted to save this for later, but it seems I have no choice. So, come forth, Shaddoll Core! I summon you in defense mode!"

**Shaddoll Core – Dark/Spellcaster/Effect/Trap/LV9 – 1450 ATK/1950 DEF**

Jaden chuckled, "Sorry to have to break it to you, Alexis, but that's not going to save you."

Alexis furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, "What are you talking about? Shaddoll Core's in defense mode. The only way you'd be able to win here is if..." she trailed off before gasping. "It can't be!"

Jaden grinned, "That's right! When Elemental Hero Bladedge attacks a defense position monster, he inflicts piercing damage!"

"But that means..."

"You've lost! Go, Bladedge! Finish her!" Jaden ordered his monster.

Elemental Hero Bladedge was only too happy to comply, slicing Shaddoll Core in half before moving onto Alexis, who stared up at him fearfully and cried out as he slashed his holographic blades through her chest.

**Alexis: 0  
****Jaden: 1150**

Jaden winked and pointed at Alexis, "And that's game!"

Syrus shot up and just about squeezed the life out of Jaden with how hard he was hugging the taller boy, "You did it, Jaden! Now we're not going to be expelled!"

"I don't believe this." Jasmine muttered dumbfounded.

"Alexis lost?" Mindy said disbelievingly.

Alexis sucked in a breath and crossed her arms, smiling slightly, "That's what it looks like."

Jaden raised an eyebrow, "A deal's a deal, right? I won, so we get off free."

Alexis put her hand on her him, "Don't worry. I'll keep our agreement. We won't tell anyone about anything that happened here tonight."

Jasmine growled, "Well, if you ask me, I think we should turn both of them in right now. He only won by a fluke, anyway!" she yelled.

"Well, it's a good thing I didn't ask you then!" Alexis said harshly.

Jasmine jerked in surprise, "Alexis...?"

The Queen sighed, "A loss is a loss. Don't be such a poor sport about it. He beat me fair and square and that's all there is to it."

"No, there's more to it than that." Jaden interjected, causing the girls to look at him. "Yeah... you're strong."

Alexis blinked before smiling, "Well, I _did _just put this Deck together. I'm not making excuses or anything, but I hope you'll be up for a rematch when I work out all the rough edges."

"Anytime." Jaden grinned before he began rowing the boat back towards the shore. "Later!"

_Even if I did win, I don't think I could have turned those two in. _Alexis thought to herself. _That guy is getting more and more interesting._

* * *

Nearby, Dr. Crowler growled loudly to himself, "Grr. Lucky brat! He escaped this time, but I'll still find a way to expel him!"

* * *

So, I hope you liked Alexis' new Deck. It was really tough to write, but hopefully I didn't butcher it too badly. Anyway, I actually thought about having her win, but, you know, Jaden kind of needs to stay at the Academy. Hopefully that Duel was better than last chapter's. I thought about skipping this duel because Lance wasn't a part of it, but Jaden _is _a main character, and Alexis duels so little as it is, I don't think it would have been very fair to her.

And, yes, Lance has Duel Spirits. It's not just Lord of the Red. He can bring out the spirit of any Dragon-type monster with a few exceptions. But it's just Dragon-types. Nothing else. (Sucks for you, Lightning Lord!) He's also sort of an extremely limited Psychic duelist. Unlike the Psychic duelists in 5Ds, Sayer and Akiza, where they could sort of control it with any sort of monster, his only happen when he's really angry or otherwise emotional, and it only applies to Dragon-type monsters. And since he's usually a pretty laid-back guy, it doesn't usually happen. BUT! The stronger the monster, the more easy it is for it to become tangible, which is why he doesn't use Black Dragon Archfiend a lot. I know some people won't like this, but it was my plan from the beginning, so...

You know, I kind of wonder what would have happened if Jaden had actually gotten that letter instead of Syrus. To be honest, I don't think he would have gone, but who knows?

Oh, and by the way, I know Black Dragon Archfiend's official English name is Archfiend Black Skull Dragon, but I kind of hate it, so I'm just going to keep using Black Dragon Archfiend.

Until Next Time!


End file.
